According to the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), on August 28, local time, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a press conference and announced his official resignation as Prime Minister of Japan.
Abe said at the press conference that he had decided to resign as prime minister due to the recurrence of his old disease ulcerative colitis and to prevent his personal health from affecting his governance. According to Article 9 of the Japanese Cabinet Act, if the Prime Minister is unable to continue to perform his duties and the position becomes vacant, the Minister of State designated by him in advance will temporarily take over as Prime Minister and remain in office until someone officially takes over as Prime Minister. However, Abe said that there will be no temporary agency for the time being and that he will continue to serve until the next prime minister is elected.
So, who is most likely to become Japan's next prime minister? The Beijing News sorts out for you the top ten candidates for prime minister predicted by Japanese media.
Taro Aso
Taro Aso. AFP file picture
Taro Aso, 79, is Japan’s current deputy prime minister, finance minister and finance minister, and a core member of Abe’s cabinet.
Aso has rich political experience and has been elected as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives 12 times. In 2008, Aso became the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, but he lost to the Democratic Party in the 2009 House of Representatives election, and the Liberal Democratic Party became the opposition party. After the Liberal Democratic Party came to power again in 2012, Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister of Japan, and Aso also joined Abe when he formed his second cabinet, serving as deputy prime minister, minister of finance, and minister in charge of finance.
He is known as a "big mouth" in Japanese politics, and his remarks have caused controversy and even public protests many times. He is also a well-known comic fan and once suggested that Japan carry out "animation diplomacy."
Wang Xinsheng, professor of the Department of History at Peking University and president of the China Society for the History of Sino-Japanese Relations, said in an interview with the Beijing News on August 28 that Taro Aso, as the current deputy prime minister, is more likely to become a temporary agent, but Abe has made it clear that , no temporary agent will be selected. At the same time, Aso's prestige is not enough and his political ability is limited. Therefore, Aso is less likely to become the next prime minister.
Yoshihide Suga
Yoshihide Suga. Screenshot of Japan Mainichi News Agency website
Since Abe became prime minister, Yoshihide Suga has been loyal and is one of several allies urging Abe to run for prime minister again in 2012. After Abe became Prime Minister again, he appointed Yoshihide Suga as Chief Cabinet Secretary, the highest spokesperson of the Japanese government.
In April 2019, after Yoshihide Suga announced that Japan's new year would be "Reiwa", rumors that he might become prime minister began to spread. However, in October 2019, two cabinet ministers who were close to Suga were exposed to scandals and stepped down, which to a certain extent weakened Suga's influence.
Ishiba Shigeru
Ishiba Shigeru. "Japan Times" website screenshot
Shigeru Ishiba, 63, is also one of the popular candidates. When Abe reorganized the cabinet in 2014, Shigeru Ishiba served as the newly established minister in charge of local development and the minister in charge of the Cabinet Office.
Shigeru Ishiba has served as Japan’s Minister of Defense, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Minister in charge of Local Development. Previously, Shigeru Ishiba was appointed Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party and competed with Abe twice.
In the first round of the party leadership election in 2012, Shigeru Ishiba defeated Abe with grassroots support, but lost in the second round where only members of Congress could vote. In the 2015 election, Shigeru Ishiba withdrew from the race because Abe was too strong. Subsequently, in 2018, Shigeru Ishiba challenged the position of prime minister for the third time. In the party leader election, Ishiba lost to Abe.
However, Ishiba Shigeru still retains a strong strength within the party and is highly anticipated by the party. Ishiba often tops voters' surveys of which lawmaker they want to be the next prime minister.
Wang Xinsheng said that Ishiba Mao has a high prestige among the people and has a certain degree of competitiveness, but he is unable to effectively coordinate party personnel, and it is still unknown whether he can win the election.
Fumio Kishida
Fumio Kishida. Screenshot of Bloomberg website
After Abe announced his resignation, Japan’s former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said that he was ready to become Abe’s successor.Comprehensive reports from the Japan Institute of Relaxation (NHK) and Japan's Kyodo News Agency on August 28, Kishida expressed in an interview with the media that day that he hoped to participate in the next Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, and said that Abe had called him to contact him about his resignation. .
Kishida Fumio, 63, served as the Foreign Minister of the Abe government from 2012 to 2017, but diplomatic work has always been mainly in the hands of the prime minister.
The low-key lawmaker from Hiroshima has been widely regarded as Abe's preferred successor, but does not rank high in voter surveys.
Wang Xinsheng analyzed that Abe’s biggest competitor is Shigeru Ishiba. In order to suppress Shigeru Ishiba, Abe may vigorously promote Kishida’s election. However, Kishida’s performance during the outbreak of the epidemic in Japan was poor.
Taro Kono
Taro Kono. "Japan Times" website screenshot
Defense Minister Taro Kono, 56, is known as a "maverick", but he has always implemented Abe's key policies, including taking a tough stance in the feud with South Korea over wartime historical issues.
Kono was educated at Georgetown University in the United States and served as Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform.
Shinjiro Koizumi
Shinjiro Koizumi. Screenshot of Reuters website
The 39-year-old Shinjiro Koizumi is currently the Minister of Environment and is the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Many people believe that Shinjiro Koizumi may become the future prime minister, but others believe that Shinjiro Koizumi is too young.
According to Reuters, Shinjiro Koizumi agrees with some of Abe’s conservative views and has also visited Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Koizumi has cultivated an image as a "reformer" by relying on reducing Japan's support for coal, but he has generally been careful not to offend party elders.
As the head of agricultural affairs of the Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Committee, Koizumi has carried out bold reforms, including taking measures to reduce the influence of Japanese agricultural groups on government agricultural policies.
Wang Xinsheng said that Koizumi has not taken effective epidemic prevention measures and is too young, so it is unlikely that he will be elected as the next prime minister.
Kato Katsunobu
Kato Katsunobu. Screenshot of Japan Jiji News Agency website
64-year-old Kato Katsunobu is the current Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. He attracted attention in the early days of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic in Japan. Kato, a father of four, was tasked in 2015 with trying to boost Japan's extremely low birth rate, but the effort has had little success.
Wang Xinsheng said that although Kato has appeared many times during the epidemic, he is more likely to "accompany him".
Nishimura Yasunari
Nishimura Yasunari. Screenshot of Reuters website
57-year-old Yasumin Nishimura is the current Minister of Renewal in Japan and a member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. In March 1985, Nishimura graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tokyo. Later, Nishimura went to the University of Maryland in the United States to study international political economy and received a master's degree. In November 2003, Nishimura was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the 43rd House of Representatives election and joined the Liberal Democratic Party.
According to Japanese media reports, during the COVID-19 epidemic, Nishimura Yasunari gradually became the main person in charge of fighting the epidemic, and therefore became a potential successor to Shinzo Abe after his resignation. He was considered the "future star" of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party.
Noda Seiko
Noda Seiko. "Japan Times" website screenshot
Noda Seiko, 59, has made no secret of her desire to become Japan's first female prime minister. She is a critic of Abe. She has served as Minister of General Affairs and was also in charge of women's empowerment. In 2018, she failed to run for the party leadership due to insufficient support.
Yuriko Koike
Yuriko Koike. Screenshot of Kyodo News Agency website
Yuriko Koike, 68, is currently the governor of Tokyo and is the first woman to hold this position in Japan. In 1992, Yuriko Koike began to join the Japanese political arena. She served as a member of both houses of the Senate, and also served as cabinet minister of environment, minister of defense and other important positions.
While the epidemic situation in Tokyo is still severe, Yuriko Koike was re-elected as the governor of Tokyo with a high vote of 3.66 million.After the outbreak of the epidemic in Japan, Yuriko Koike's anti-epidemic performance enabled her to easily win re-election. Based on this, there was another voice in Japanese political circles that "Koike may aspire to be prime minister."
As the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike has indeed achieved some political achievements in the past four years. However, Koike lacks the support of members of the House and Senate of the Japanese Parliament and may temporarily find it difficult to compete for the prime minister.
According to Wang Xinsheng, Nishimura Yasumin, Noda Seiko and Koike Yuriko are not strong candidates for prime minister, and their chances of being elected are low.
Beijing News reporter Zhang Lu Qian Yazhuo Yao Yuan intern Xiang Chenyu
editor Chen Si
