GEIS-新闻详情

4 candidates kick off race to succeed Japan PM Suga

2021-09-20 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

TOKYO - Four veteran politicians from Japan's ruling party filed their candidacies on Friday (Sept 17) in the race to succeed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, with voting to take place on Sept 29.

Unlike last year's streamlined Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) poll after Mr Shinzo Abe's sudden resignation due to health reasons, the contest this year follows the traditional format where both Diet lawmakers and rank-and-file members across the 47 prefectural chapters can get their say.

Given the LDP's majority in both chambers of the Diet, its leader will likely become the next prime minister. The Diet is expected to convene on Oct 4 to choose the new premier.

The four candidates are Mr Taro Kono, 58, administrative reform and vaccination minister; Mr Fumio Kishida, 64, former foreign minister; Ms Sanae Takaichi, 60, former internal affairs and communications minister; and Ms Seiko Noda, 61, LDP executive acting secretary-general.

They were united on the need for more compassionate policies that will ease public concerns and uplift society. This seems to be in response to criticism of how the LDP, under Mr Suga, has been seen as out of touch with everyday concerns.

Yet their policy platforms differ on issues such as the Covid-19 exit strategy, for which they offered different ideas, from revising laws and recognising antigen testing for safe events to building field hospitals for the next Covid-19 spike.

Another divisive issue is same-sex marriage, which Mr Kono and Ms Noda are in favour of.

Ms Noda, the 11th-hour candidate, said women will comprise half her Cabinet if she were prime minister. She was also the only candidate who vowed to reopen a probe into Abe-era cronyism scandals that have hurt public trust.

The stakes are high in this election to pick the LDP's leader for the next three years, as a general election must be held by November.

The reform-minded Mr Kono will easily be the shoo-in if members of the public can get their say at the Sept 29 poll, as he routinely tops media surveys of their choice for the next prime minister.

Yet, experts warn that the outcome is not that clear-cut within the LDP, given the ongoing proxy struggles for influence and backroom wheeling and dealing.

A non-binding survey of LDP lawmakers by the Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday showed Mr Kono and Mr Kishida in a dead heat, with Ms Takaichi close behind, out of the six in 10 who have decided whom to vote for.

The remaining four in 10 have not yet decided how to cast their votes.

There are 766 votes at stake in the Sept 29 election, with the 383 Diet lawmakers each getting one vote and the other 383 ballots divided among the 47 prefecture chapters.

Unless a candidate secures at least 50 per cent of the vote, the poll will go into a run-off contest between the top two vote-getters.

In the second round, parliamentarian votes will carry more weight as each of the 383 lawmakers will get one ballot, while the 47 prefecture chapters will each get one vote, for a total of 430 votes at stake.