TOKYO – Japan’s parliament on Tuesday elected Shigeru Ishiba, head of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, as the country’s new prime minister.
Ishiba was chosen as the party's leader on Friday to replace Fumio Kishida, who then stepped down earlier on Tuesday to pave the way. Ishiba stood and bowed as he was nominated in the lower house, the more powerful of the two chambers of parliament, before leaving for the Prime Minister's Office.
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Ishiba will announce his new Cabinet later on Tuesday.
Kishida took office in 2021 but left so his party could have a fresh leader after his government was dogged by scandals. Ishiba plans to call a parliamentary election for Oct. 27.
“I believe it is important to have the new administration get the public’s judgment as soon as possible,” Ishiba said Monday in announcing his plan to call a snap election after he was formally elected prime minister. He is expected to dissolve the parliament on Oct. 9 ahead of an election campaign.
Opposition parties criticized Ishiba for announcing such a plan before even becoming leader and allowing only a short period of time for his policies to be examined and discussed in parliament before the national election. Opposition protests delayed the start of the parliamentary vote for about half an hour, signaling a rocky start for Ishiba.
“I will squarely face the people, discuss policies sincerely to gain their understanding. My government won't walk away from challenges and get things done,” Ishiba said before the parliamentary vote.
Kishida had announced in August he would resign at the end of his three-year term to pave the way for a fresh leader ahead of the next national election, as corruption scandals dogged his party and government.
Kishida and his ministers stepped down at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. Kishida left his office after a brief send-off ceremony in which he was presented a bouquet of red roses and applauded by his staff and former Cabinet members.
“As we face a critical moment in and outside the country, I earnestly hope key policies that will pioneer Japan's future will be powerfully pursued by the new Cabinet,” Kishida said in a statement.
Ishiba announced his party's leaders Monday ahead of naming his Cabinet. Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who came in third in the party leadership race, will head the party’s election task force.
He is expected to have two former defense ministers to his Cabinet and appoint Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and Gen Nakatani as defense chief.
The majority of his Cabinet members, including Ishiba, are expected to be unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by party heavyweights, and none are from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's powerful group linked to damaging scandals.
Ishiba's lack of stable power base could also mean a fragility of his government, and “could quickly collapse” even though Ishiba hopes to build up party unity as it prepares for the upcoming election, the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper said.
The move is also seen as revenge by Ishiba, who was largely pushed to the side during most of Abe's reign.
Only two of the 19 ministers are expected to be women: actor-turned-lawmaker Junko Mihara as children's policy minister and Toshiko Abe as education minister.
Ishiba has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance and more discussion among regional partners about the use of the U.S. nuclear deterrence. He also suggested a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance, including joint management of U.S. bases in Japan and having Japanese Self Defense Force bases in the United States.
Ishiba outlined his views in an article to the Hudson Institute last week.
“The absence of a collective self-defense system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defense. Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies,” he wrote.
Ishiba proposes combining of existing security and diplomatic groupings, such as the Quad and other bilateral and multilateral frameworks involving the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.
He also noted that the Asian version of NATO can also consider sharing of the control of U.S. nuclear weapons in the region as a deterrence against growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.
He pledged to continue Kishida’s economic policy aimed at pulling Japan out of deflation and achieving real salary increases, while tackling challenges such as Japan’s declining birthrate and population and resilience to natural disasters.
The LDP has had a nearly unbroken tenure governing Japan since World War II. The party members may have seen Ishiba’s more centrist views as crucial in pushing back challenges by the liberal-leaning opposition and winning voter support as the party reels from corruption scandals that drove down Kishida’s popularity.
Ishiba, first elected to parliament in 1986, has served as defense minister, agriculture minister and in other key Cabinet posts, and was LDP secretary general under Abe.
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