Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shi Pomao Announces Abandoning the Election
Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election is coming soon
The election of the president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan will be registered on the 17th and vote on the 29th.
At present, Japan’s former Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio, former Minister of General Affairs Sanae Takaichi, and current Minister of Administrative Reform Kono Taro have officially announced their candidacy.
The former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, Shi Po Shigeru, who had been louder before, announced his abandonment of the election. The deputy secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party Seiko Noda may run for the election, but her chances of winning are slim.
The competitive landscape of the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election is now basically taking shape, that is, Kono, Kishida, and Takashi are competing for hegemony. Who can win will depend to a large extent on the attitudes of the various factions in the party and their respective popularity among voters.
Fumio Kishida: leader of faction
Kishida Fumio is 64 years old and comes from a political family. Both his father and grandfather were members of the Diet.
Kishida has served as the Liberal Democratic Party's National Assembly Policy Committee Chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In an interview with the media, Kishida once stated that if he becomes prime minister, he will promote constitutional amendments during his tenure, and strive for a referendum discussed by the Congress to realize the four amendments proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party, including adding emergency situations and clearly writing to the Self-Defense Forces.
He claimed that, if necessary, it will explore changes to the Coast Guard Act and the Self-Defense Force Act.
In the fight against the new crown epidemic, Kishida criticized the government for insufficient explanation of epidemic prevention measures and was too optimistic about the status quo.
He called for the country to lead the establishment of a normalized response to the new crown epidemic as a response to seasonal flu.
Kishida's main advantage is the faction with his own leadership.
The Kishida faction currently has 46 members of Congress, and they basically support him in the election. Therefore, unlike other candidates, he does not have to run around to collect the signatures of 20 members of Congress. This also allows him to formally declare his participation earlier than other candidates. select.
However, if Kishida wants to win the presidential election, he has to win the support of other factions in the party.
Although Kishida's seniority is not bad, his presence in the party and the public has not been strong, and his popularity is not high.
Takashi Sanae: Right-wing Pioneer
Takaichi Sanae is 60 years old and was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1993.
She has served as the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's government affairs investigation, the minister of general affairs and other positions.
Gao Shi emphasized that "the ultimate mission of the country is to protect the lives and property of its citizens, territorial waters and airspace, resources, and national sovereignty and reputation", claiming that the achievement of this mission will "gamble everything on its own."
She advocated amending the statement in Article 9 Item 2 of the Constitution regarding not maintaining combat power and denying the country's right to engage in war, to be clearly written into the "National Defense Forces."
She also advocated strengthening Japan's defense capabilities and strengthening economic security to deal with security threats such as foreign cyber attacks and the outflow of cutting-edge technology.
As a factionless person in the Liberal Democratic Party, Gaoshi lacks faction support.
At present, Gaoshi focuses on right-wing conservative features, and some commentators call it a conservative "integrated master".
As the Liberal Democratic Party is a conservative party, there are many right-wing politicians in the party, and the right-wing ideas of Gaoshi are very attractive to them.
Takashi is the second woman to run for the president of the Liberal Democratic Party after the current Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike. If elected, she will become Japan's first female prime minister, which will help her to obtain votes from the grassroots, especially female party members.
But on the other hand, Gaoshi’s conservative stance on women’s rights may dilute her female advantages, and in the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, especially for the older party leaders, Gaoshi’s female identity may become another one. Disadvantage.
Kono Taro: Heresy in the Party
Kono Taro is 58 years old and comes from a political family. His father Yohei Kono and grandfather Ichiro Kono are well-known politicians in Japan.
He has served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense and other positions. He is currently the Minister of Administrative Reform and is in charge of the new crown vaccination work.
Kono advocates strengthening defense capabilities and re-examining national security strategies to deal with new threats; enhancing the defense capabilities of the Self-Defense Force in new areas such as cyber, space, and electromagnetic waves; strengthening relevant mechanisms and deterrence to counter "unilateral attempts to change the status quo"; Constructing an "alliance that defends basic values such as freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights" will establish Japan's solid position in the international community.
Kono's biggest advantage is his popularity among the people, and he currently leads the polls.
Kono's popularity mainly comes from his daring to speak and do style and strong external voice ability.
When he was a young congressman, he dared to make a different voice in the Liberal Democratic Party.
After Kono took up important positions such as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense, he had a high exposure rate in the media.
Since the beginning of this year, Kono has been in charge of the new crown vaccination work and continues to be in the spotlight.
According to Japanese media reports, the Minister of the Environment Shinjiro Koizumi, who is very popular among the public, has decided to support Kono, which may further increase Kono's popularity.
However, Kono's daring to speak and do not only brought him popularity, but also made him appear maverick in the party.
His views on many issues are liberal and incompatible with the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. Some Japanese media call him "heresy." Even the leadership of the Aso faction to which he belongs has opinions on him.
What is the outlook for the election?
Judging from the rules of this presidential election, the candidates' votes come from two aspects, namely, votes from members of Congress and votes from grassroots party members. The direction of the former is mainly determined by the intentions of the factions in the party, while the direction of the latter is basically consistent with the support rate of the polls.
There are currently seven main factions in the Liberal Democratic Party.
At present, the Kishida faction basically supports Kishida. The Hosoda faction has decided to support Takaichi and Kishida. The attitude of the other factions is not clear.
Judging from the votes of members of the Diet, Kishida, Kono, and Takashi each have their own advantages, and it is temporarily impossible to predict which one will have the better.
According to polls, Kono and Kishida are leading, while the high market is relatively lagging behind.
According to a report from Japan’s NHK TV station on the 15th local time, around the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, Shigeru Ishiba, the former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, at a meeting of the Ishiba faction on the 15th, made it clear that he would not participate in the election. .
Ishibashi once competed with Aso and Abe for the party leadership position.
When Aso was prime minister, he supported "Aso stepping down." During Abe's second term as prime minister, he constantly criticized the administration of the Abe cabinet.
Kono belongs to the Aso faction, the second largest faction of the Liberal Democratic Party led by Aso.
Some analysts believe that if Kono cooperates with Ishiba, Aso may join forces with Abe, who can influence the largest faction in the party, the "Hosoda faction", and raise the banner of "anti Ishiba" to prevent Kono from winning the election.
That would be what Takaichi and Kishida dream of.
A senior government official who did not want to be named previously told the Yomiuri Shimbun that if Kono cooperates with Ishiba, "it will cause an adverse chemical reaction."
With at least three people running for the election and no candidate has an absolute advantage, it is very likely that the second round of voting will be held in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election.
In the second round of voting, the votes of members of Congress will be the dominant factor. The one who gets the most votes in the first round of voting may not be the last laugh. This will also bring more uncertainty to the election results.
According to Xinhua News Agency to share with them