The longest administration in this nation's history comes to an abrupt end with many domestic and international challenges remaining. It is important that the candidates to be the next prime minister clearly state their vision for how they would run the government.
Following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's announcement that he will step down, preparations have begun in earnest for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election to choose his successor. The new party leader is expected to be decided in mid-September. The new president will be nominated as prime minister at a subsequent extraordinary session of the Diet.
Candidates for the post include Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida, who have long supported the Abe administration, and former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, who ran in the previous presidential election.
The immediate focus is how to select the new president. The LDP should swiftly make a decision on the matter, without wasting time.
While the LDP's party rules stipulate that a presidential election must be held, in principle, by a vote of its members, they also state that the party leader can be elected at a joint plenary meeting of party members of both Diet houses, in place of a party convention, "especially in the case of an emergency."
Ishiba is insisting on holding a vote among party members, but party executives are expected to decide at the General Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday that the new LDP leader will be elected via a joint plenary meeting.
Amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, it would be difficult to hold a full-scale presidential election accompanied by a nationwide campaign.
In effect, this is an election to determine the prime minister. Adding up numbers behind closed doors is unacceptable. It is imperative to devise ways in which candidates can openly debate policy in a way that is easy for the public to understand.
The new administration is first charged with the responsibility of achieving stable economic growth over the mid- and long term, by maintaining the balance between the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of the virus and economic activities.
Diplomacy is also a difficult issue. To protect national interests and lead international cooperation, it is indispensable for Japan to have a leader with firm convictions and the ability to formulate a vision.
Abe has strengthened the Japan-U.S. alliance based on his relationship of trust with U.S. President Donald Trump. The new prime minister must use this legacy to build a more multilayered cooperative relationship with Washington while closely watching the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
China has been unilaterally advancing in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, even in the wake of the pandemic, and as a result U.S.-China relations have been strained further. North Korea has improved its nuclear and missile capabilities, increasing its threat.
How can Japan ensure its peace and prosperity amid the rapidly changing international situation? Abe proposed a "free and open Indo-Pacific" vision. Candidates running for the LDP presidency should also make their policies known and discuss concrete measures.
Including those of the Democratic Party of Japan, six short-lived administrations that lasted around a year followed one after another until the end of 2012, when Abe's second administration was inaugurated. This was caused mainly by the lack of preparation by successive prime ministers and the fact that leaders were chosen based solely on their popularity among the public. The same mistake must not be repeated.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Aug. 30, 2020.
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