reporter Zhao Shifeng
Japan’s House of Representatives election will be voted on on July 10. Around this election, not only the ruling and opposition parties launched fierce attacks and defenses, but also various factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were also ready to stir up trouble, forming gangs overtly or covertly to compete over the cabinet and party personnel adjustments.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (data map)
According to Kyodo News , former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga previously planned to go to a high school in Kanagawa Prefecture on June 13, targeting 18-year-old high school seniors who already have the right to vote. Students gave speeches calling on them to actively participate in politics and vote. However, this plan encountered strong public protests, and some citizen groups pointed out that Suga's move violated the principle of political neutrality. Although the Kanagawa Prefectural Education Authority explained that the theme of Suga Yoshihide's speech was not canvassing votes and "did not violate the Basic Law of Education," the school was forced to cancel the speech.
Although his speech was not popular with the public, Yoshihide Suga has recently become a "hot potato" within the Liberal Democratic Party. Although Yoshihide Suga has no family or faction, he has become the center of the factionless parliamentarians. He controls a vague "Suga Group" with dozens of people, and has become a figure that various factions in the party are competing to win over. .
Yoshihide Suga (right) has served as Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Abe government for a long time..
According to Japanese media reports, on May 31, the president of the "Abe faction" and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe specially invited Yoshihide Suga and his wife to have dinner. In the meantime, Abe asked Yoshihide Suga tentatively: "If you are determined to factionalize the group, you can gather many people immediately." Abe also suggested that Yoshihide Suga abandon all worries and immediately form his own faction. However, sources told Kyodo News that Yoshihide Suga is cautious about this.
On the eve of resigning as prime minister last year, Yoshihide Suga proposed the idea of forming a "study group" of parliamentarian groups within the Liberal Democratic Party to promote policies that failed to be realized during his tenure, including carbon neutrality and digitalization. Within the Liberal Democratic Party, some members of the factionless faction, the "Second Order Faction" and the "Moriyama Faction" have shown a tendency to move closer to the "Study Association". Taro Kono, who lost the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election last year, also said in April this year, "If I receive an invitation, I will participate in ('study meeting')." Lawmakers close to Suga Yoshihide expect such an alliance to be able to factionalize in the future. change.
Taro Aso and his wife hosted a banquet for Yoshihide Suga and his wife. (Screenshot of Japanese media report)
Japan’s political transactions are often completed not in congressional offices, but at the dining table. Just on May 27, Taro Aso, president of the "Aso faction" and vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, and his wife also invited Yoshihide Suga and his wife to have dinner at their private residence.
According to the current polls, there is no suspense about the victory of the Liberal Democratic Party in the Senate election. In this way, Fumio Kishida will secure the position of prime minister and usher in the "golden three years" of no political elections. Abe is worried that his influence will decline as a result, so joining forces with non-mainstream factions to contain Kishida is a good option. In this context, both Abe and Aso believe that "Yoshihide Suga is an important existence."
In December 2021, Yoshihide Suga was interviewed by the media in Kunigami Village, Okinawa Prefecture.
At the end of last year, when Yoshihide Suga visited Kunigami Village in Okinawa Prefecture, he was asked about the possibility of establishing the "Suga Group". He did not answer directly at the time, but listed the unfinished matters during his term, saying that he "hopes to cooperate with colleagues Let’s work together to realize these policies.” This move is considered to be a hint that he may form a faction centered on himself.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic and other reasons, although Yoshihide Suga’s “Study Club” has not been officially open to the public, the “Kenisa Club” was established by Representatives Manabu Sakai and Tomohiro Yamamoto, who are also from the Kanagawa Prefecture constituency like Yoshihide Suga. , they meet regularly in the form of lunch meetings every Thursday when each faction holds a general meeting. It was the non-factional members of Congress, mainly the "Ganesa Society", who actively supported Yoshihide Suga's candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party president. Therefore, when Yoshihide Suga announced his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party president in September 2020, he specifically thanked his non-factional partners for their support: “The energy of non-sectarian MPs who support me is propelling me to the fore."
After Abe resigned in 2020, Toshihiro Nikai (right) took the lead in supporting Yoshihide Suga's candidacy for the president of the Liberal Democratic Party.
There are about 70 non-factional members of the Liberal Democratic Party. In addition to the support of young independent members, it is currently weak but still has energy. The "second-order faction", including Yoshihide Suga, who was born in Kanagawa Prefecture and is a "long-lasting friend" of the young parliamentarian Koizumi Shinjiro, as well as fellow dormant fellows and former Foreign Minister Taro Kono and others, are all related to Suga Yoshihide. They have deep relations with each other and may become the core of the "Suga Group" in the future.
Regarding the new round of personnel adjustments after the Senate election, the three former prime ministers Abe, Aso, and Yoshihide Suga will fight overtly and exploit each other in their respective camps. How many important positions the members occupy will directly affect the status and influence of the three people in the party in the future.
Suga Yoshihide is accumulating strength to become the "king maker."
In February of this year, Suga Yoshihide's "confidant" and the former General Affairs Council of the Liberal Democratic Party. Tsutomu Nagasaki quit the "Aso faction", the second largest faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, and four other people quit along with Tsutomu Sato, including Hideki Niwa, the deputy minister of the cabinet during the Yoshihide Suga administration. It is said that Sato decided to withdraw from the "Aso faction." "After that, he immediately visited Yoshihide Suga for a report.
Yoshihide Suga seems to be low-key, but in fact he has been secretly accumulating strength and looking for opportunities to make a comeback. The lawmakers he has gathered are likely to become the top three factions in the Liberal Democratic Party. Because of this , Suga Yoshihide, as the "key man" who controls the situation, Abe, Aso and other party bosses do not dare to underestimate
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