The eldest son of Kishida jumped to the prime minister's secretary, and there is a "hereditary" designated seat in Japan?

The eldest son of Fumio Kishida jumped to the prime minister's secretary, and there is a "hereditary" designated seat in Japanese politics?

　　Like the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also "the third generation of officials", but the context of the two families is going in different directions. The former faces the dilemma of no successor, and the latter is helping the "four generations of officials" to ascend .

　　Almost every morning on a working day, 8 men in suits with black briefcases followed Fumio Kishida and walked into the Prime Minister's official residence like the wind. They are the "heart of the official residence" - the Prime Minister's secretary.

Recently, a strange and familiar face appeared in this "heart" team. He is Kishida Shotaro, the eldest son of Kishida Fumio.

　　In early October, on the first anniversary of Fumio Kishida's inauguration as the prime minister of Japan, he appointed Shotaro Kishida, 31, as the prime minister's political secretary, replacing senior secretary Takayoshi Yamamoto who had worked with Kishida for nearly 30 years.

　　The voice of "Parents Gacha" has emerged on Japanese social platforms, which means that the reincarnation is good, and you can win at the starting line with excellent parents.

In fact, in Japanese politics, it is common for the sons of politicians to inherit the political turf from their fathers and even grandparents.

Will the "hereditary wind" blow stronger in Nagata Town?

The eldest son and the old minister, which is more important?

　　"Mixing public and private may lead to criticism. It is incomprehensible to make such a personnel appointment when the approval rating is low. What is the reason for this?" Kadean member Tomami Nishimura asked the prime minister at the October 5 Senate meeting.

　　When the media camera turned to Fumio Kishida, he squinted and squinted at Nishimura, his face full of helplessness, "This is a decision made from the perspective of appointing people according to their aptitude and comprehensive consideration." The congressman shouted: "You answer, don't run away."

　　According to Jiji News Agency, the mainstream view within the Japanese government is that Kishida's appointment is obviously paving the way for "hereditary".

In the face of doubts from inside and outside the party, Kishida responded again: "This appointment is to strengthen the coping ability of the secretarial team." He explained that Shotaro can report the situation quickly and in detail whether it is on holidays or late at night when crisis management is needed, and can Responsible for posting on social platforms.

The Kishida faction said that Shotaro is capable. He lives with the Prime Minister and can fully grasp the Prime Minister's mind, while Yamamoto Takayoshi does not have the sense of trust as a "Prime Minister's avatar".

　　As the political "fourth generation" of the Kishida family, Shotaro graduated from the Faculty of Law of Keio University. He has worked in Mitsui & Co. for 6 years to accumulate experience. In 2020, he will serve as the public secretary of Kishida Office.

In October last year, during Kishida's campaign for the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Shotaro wore the "candidate's eldest son" ribbon and took to the streets to canvass votes for his father.

The Japanese weekly "FRIDAY" quoted people from the Liberal Democratic Party's Kishida faction as saying that Shotaro, like his father, has a lot of alcohol, good personality, and strong social skills, so there are many rumors with female anchors and female reporters.

　　In fact, Kishida Shotaro has been living in the spotlight since last year, living with his father at the Prime Minister's Residence.

Japanese media said that Shotaro was also responsible for arranging breakfast and dinner for his father when Mrs. Fumio Kishida was away.

In contrast, Yoshitaka Yamamoto, who has worked for Fumio Kishida since his college days, is difficult to match his eldest son even if he becomes Kishida's closest secretary.

The Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) reported that Yamamoto has been running for years to raise political funds for Kishida, and he always said "I want Kishida to be prime minister."

Now that he is over half a hundred years old, he has "regressed" on his career path and returned to Kishida Office as a member of parliament's secretary.

The first step in "succession"

　　The Kishida father and son partner has a familiar feeling, as if replicating the story of the Fukuda family.

　　Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda served as the Prime Minister's Secretary to his father, former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda.

In 2007, when Yasuo Fukuda himself ascended to the top phase, he appointed his eldest son, Tatsuo Fukuda, 40, as secretary to the prime minister.

Although there was controversy at the time, the mainstream view was that Foton Duff was expected to become the "successor".

　　After graduating from Keio University, Fukuda went to the United States as an international relations researcher, and soon returned to Japan to join Mitsubishi Corporation, where he worked for the trading giant for 10 years, and then joined Yasuo Fukuda as a member of parliamentary secretary.

Some politicians are discussing whether Kishida Shotaro can now follow the path of Fukuda and become a "successor".

　　After Yasuo Fukuda announced his retirement from politics in 2012, his eldest son took over the "baton" and was elected to the House of Representatives in the same year.

Fukuda's appeal cannot be underestimated. In September last year, he launched and founded the "Party Style New Association", calling on the Liberal Democratic Party to reform and openly criticizing Abe's regime, attracting more than 90 young lawmakers to join the assembly.

After Kishida took office, he promoted Fukuda Tatsuo as the chairman of the General Affairs of the Liberal Democratic Party, one of the "four party battles".

Japanese media commented on this that although he has stepped down as the chairman of the general affairs of the party, Fukuda is still recognized as a future prime minister candidate, and his experience as the prime minister's secretary is the first step to becoming a successor.

　　In Japanese politics, "hereditary" is a deeply rooted issue. Many of the previous Japanese prime ministers and cabinet members are "hereditary" politicians, such as the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the current Minister of Digital Affairs Taro Kono.

According to the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" report, in the 2017 House of Representatives election, hereditary members reached more than 20% of the elected, and the proportion in the Liberal Democratic Party was as high as one-third.

　　Typically, hereditary candidates inherit support clubs and money-management groups from their parents or relatives, giving these newcomers to politics a head start.

However, Uchiyama Rong, a professor of comparative politics at the University of Tokyo, said in an interview with Japanese media that hereditary cannot be regarded as a problem.

But he also noted the need to build mechanisms for new candidates other than hereditary MPs to reduce barriers to their participation in elections.

　　Judging from the experience of a large number of Japanese politicians, the post of government secretary is comparable to a "hereditary" stepping stone.

Whether it is a prime minister, a minister or a member of parliament, their state secretaries are all "special-duty national civil servants" and do not need to be selected through civil service examinations.

Moreover, unlike the secretary of affairs who is selected from the inside, the secretary of government can directly appoint external candidates, which gives politicians a great degree of personnel freedom, and this position often plays an irreplaceable key role.

The "Invisible Power" of the State Secretaries

　　In Japan, the job of a politician's secretary is complicated, including not only scheduling and arranging, but also dealing with various people such as support groups.

The "Daily News" said that as the Prime Minister's secretary, in many cases, he has more political influence than the cabinet ministers who run around in various provincial departments.

　　Fumio Kishida currently has 8 secretaries, of which 6 are affairs secretaries. They are dispatched by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Defense Agency and the National Police Agency. They are usually bureaucratic elites who have worked in the cabinet and are responsible for their respective professions. Domain Affairs.

The other two are government secretaries, assisting the prime minister in political activities. They often participate in important decisions such as the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the personnel of the cabinet, and are considered to have "invisible power".

The two government secretaries are divided into high and low, among which the chief secretary is Shimada Takashi, and the other is Kishida Shotaro.

　　Generally speaking, the background of the Japanese Prime Minister's Secretary of State is nothing more than a member of the parliamentary secretary, a bureaucrat, and a relative of the Prime Minister, but Shimana Takashi is unusual. Before he became the Chief Secretary of State, he served as the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and was seconded to Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd. The company is responsible for promoting reforms and has good connections in the political, official and private circles.

According to NHK reports, Kishida pays more attention to the opinions of various ministries and departments in terms of personnel appointments for the secretary team. As a "listening politician", he tries to reverse the previous model of "one strong official residence".

　　In the era of former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Abe, they attached great importance to the top-down regime operation through the government secretary.

According to Japanese media reports, Naoya Imai, the chief secretary in the second Abe cabinet, won the trust of Abe, participated in the formulation of domestic and foreign policies, and led the "100 million people total active society" plan. He is also known as the "official bureaucrat". 's leader.

　　Now, Kishida Shotaro assisted Shimada Takashi to lead the team of the Prime Minister's secretary, and there were uneasy voices in the official residence.

According to Jiji News Agency, people from the Prime Minister’s official residence said that Fumio Kishida tried to regain the trust of the bureaucrats of the provincial government and transformed from the official residence to the bureaucratic leadership. If his eldest son could not play a role, it would be counterproductive and lead to the insufficiency of the “heart of the official residence”.

However, the advantage of Shotaro Kishida is that he does not need to observe the words and actions like other officials. He can directly convey his true voice to his father by "taking into account" the Prime Minister's intentions. .

　　(Source: The Paper)