3 ‘Post Abe’ Election Parties … Ishiba and Kishida Appearing in “ Suga Solo ”

Former Secretary Shigeru Ishiba and President Fumio Kishida voted on day 1 of the elections to choose a new LDP governor to succeed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced his intention to resign.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who has emerged as the next prime minister, is expected to announce an official candidacy for the post on the evening of the 2nd.

Top candidates for the next Japanese prime minister. From left to right, Secretary of State Yoshihide Suga, President Fumio Kishida and former Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba. [로이터·AFP=연합뉴스]

On the other hand, Taro Kono (河野 太 郞), who was counted as one of the candidates for ‘Post Abe’, said he would not run. As a result, the election of the new governor of the Liberal Democratic Party was made possible by a three-way war between Minister Suga, President Jeongjo Kishida, and former Secretary General Ishiba.

In Japan, which is a parliamentary cabinet system, the governor of the Liberal Democratic Party, the ruling party, will assume the prime minister chosen by the House of Representatives.

Since this election is being held urgently due to the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party skipped the vote of party members and elected the governor through a “ short-form election ” in which they only participated members of the National Assembly and representatives of the association of each prefecture and provinces. I decided to do it.

Former secretary Ishiba held a press conference this afternoon and announced that he would stand in the elections for president of the PLD.

Former secretary-president Shigeru Ishiba, candidate for the next Japanese prime minister. [AFP=연합뉴스]

Former Secretary Ishiba, who is considered the political rival of Prime Minister Abe, is the fourth challenge for the presidential elections of the PLD. He was defeated by Prime Minister Abe in the 2012 and 2018 LDP presidential elections.

Former Secretary Ishiba is the preferred candidate for prime minister by the Japanese people, but the election is almost impossible if the vote of party members is omitted due to the weak base of parliamentarians.

Former Secretary General Ishiba said he was “very sorry” for the PLD’s decision to hold the gubernatorial elections in abbreviated form.

At a press conference that day, he showed his willingness to establish a liaison office in Pyongyang to solve the North Korean kidnapping problem, Kyodo News reported.

President Jeongjo Kishida also officially declared that he would run for the LDP governor election this afternoon. He said: “I will do everything possible for the people and the country.”

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s next prime ministerial candidate. [AFP=연합뉴스]

President Jeongjo Kishida is the person Prime Minister Abe originally predicted as his successor.

However, before the gubernatorial election, the first and second factions of the party turned to Suga, so it was inevitable to change the strategy.

Hosodapa (98 members), which is the largest faction of the party and to which Prime Minister Abe belonged, held a cadre meeting on the 30th of last month and decided to support Minister Suga, and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso (54 members) , headed by him. It is said that he ordered “Suga’s support”.

President Jeongjo Kishida challenged Post Abe in a situation where he was unable to gain support forces except for the Kishida faction (47 members) that he led.

He, who was Japan’s foreign minister at the time of the Korea-Japan comfort women agreement in December 2015, brought up Korea-Japan relations at a press conference.

Regarding the current situation in Korea and Japan, he said, “I am very sorry for the relationship now” and “it is important that the two countries calm people’s feelings and create an environment for dialogue.”

Secretary of State Yoshihide Suga, the next candidate for Japanese prime minister. [로이터=연합뉴스]

Minister Suga, who has already secured about 60% of the legislators of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced on the 2nd that he will run for office.

Minister Suga is gaining the support of the main factions of the PLD and is increasing his presence as the main candidate for the next prime minister. In addition to Hosodapa and Asopa, the Nikai group (47 members) led by Chief Secretary Toshihiro Nikai, and the so-called Suga group that support the Suga Minister support up to 30 members, and they already held the majority of the votes of the National Assembly.

When Prime Minister Abe suddenly resigned, he is said to have changed his mind towards Minister Suga, who could respond flexibly to challenges like Corona 19.

The Japanese media analyzed that the sudden phenomenon of ‘Suga only’ reflects the idea of ​​the leadership within the party that politics should be inherited in a stable way from the broadcast of Corona 19.

On the other hand, Defense Minister Gono, who emerged as the dark horse of ‘Post Abbe’, declared not to run. After attending the General Assembly of his faction, the Asofa, Defense Minister Kono said: “This time he decided not to run for governor.” It seems that Asofa’s decision to support Suga’s minister was influenced.

Japan Defense Award. [로이터]

In addition to Defense Minister Kono, Acting Secretary General Inada, a member of the Hosoda faction, also met with journalists on the day to announce his intention to refuse to run when his faction decided on a policy to support Minister Suga.

The Liberal Democratic Party plans to announce the elections for governor on the 8th and hold a general assembly in both houses on the 14th and vote.

It is reported that on the 16th an extraordinary National Assembly will be convened for the election of the new prime minister.
Reporter Lee Min-jung [email protected]