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It is beginning to crystallize who will take over after Shinzo Abes, who a few weeks ago announced that he is resigning prematurely as Prime Minister of Japan due to illness. Of the three candidates for the job, everything indicates that 71-year-old Yoshihide Suga will become Japan’s new leader. It is he who is supported by the most powerful factions of the PLD in Abe’s party.
So who is the man who is likely to soon emerge from the shadows and become the leader of the world’s third-largest economy?
Suga is a climber at LDP who grew up in simple conditions. During Abe’s eight years as Prime Minister, he has been behind the scenes and as Chief Cabinet Secretary he has coordinated policy between the various ministries.
He appears to be a firm man with solid routines. According to a portrait he did last year in the Nikkei Asian Review, he starts each morning with 100 sit-ups and then takes a 40-minute walk. He doesn’t drink alcohol and ends the night he started with 100 sit-ups.
Growing up with parents who grew strawberries in rural Akita prefecture in northern Japan, his background stands in stark contrast to the noble family of politicians from which Shinzo Abe hails, whose grandfather was Prime Minister and father of Foreign Minister. Suga’s first job after high school was in a cardboard factory, and she financed her college studies with a part-time job. Once she became involved in politics at the age of 26, she quickly rose through the ranks and has been a member of the Japanese parliament since 1996.
Suga describes himself as a politician as a workaholic who has been a loyal player in Abe’s shadow. He is considered good at mediating conflicts and charting political direction. However, there are concerns that he lacks charisma and may have a hard time getting past the TV screen.
The fact that it remains the most powerful group in the LDP that still prefers may be because the other candidates, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, are portrayed as enemies of Abe, who gave him his support. to Suga.
In appearance, Suga will likely differ from Abe, who felt confident in international contexts and was good at cultivating contacts. Suga is pretty green when it comes to foreign policy and lacks the obvious place on the world stage that Abe has. Some wonder how he, who in an interview says he wants to take English lessons when he retires, will be able to represent Japan in contexts such as the G7 meetings, where leaders of the seven most powerful economies in the world meet.
Shinzo Abe.
Photo: Rodrigo Reyes Marin / AP
On the other hand, Suga learns to follow in Abe’s footsteps. in terms of political orientation. He has stated that he wants to continue on Abe’s political path where “Abenomics” has been the guiding star. A policy where monetary and fiscal policy stimuli are combined with structural reforms.
“I intend to follow the initiatives that Prime Minister Abe has started and do everything possible to push them forward,” Suga said when declaring his candidacy, according to the Financial Times.
However, he will be forced to find his own strategies to address the many challenges Japan faces. Japan’s economy has been hit hard by COVID-19 and the stimulus packages that have been put in place to curb the recession have not had the desired effect. In addition, the challenge will be to hold an Olympics next year, continue to cultivate deeper contacts with the United States, soften the icy relationship with South Korea and the relationship with China with which Japan has a conflict over several islands in the South China Sea. .
The election of the new leader of the PLD will be made on Monday by the 535 deputies of the party and the regional leaders of the party. After that, parliament will elect a new prime minister on Wednesday. The vote in Parliament will be a formality since the PLD has its own majority.
Any candidate For the position of party leader, there has been no talk of Japan where gender equality is neglected. Suga was heavily criticized when a few years ago she urged women to “contribute to their country” by giving birth to more children. He had to apologize for the statement and when he recently debated with the other candidates for the party’s leadership position, he promised to work to facilitate women’s work in the labor market, including through and expanding childcare.
Japan finished 121st out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s survey on gender equality last year and has a low proportion of women in leadership positions. The Abe government is no exception, only three out of 20 ministers are women.
Abe has said he wants to strengthen the role of women in working life. But when she leaves office, she is far from the goal she set for herself: for the proportion of women in leadership positions in Japan to rise to 30 percent. Only 15 percent of the highest positions in Japan are held by women.
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