Liberal Democratic Party executive “Trying to increase (his) presence by holding several candidate cards in hand.”
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 27th that Japan’s former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is strengthening his movement with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election in mind this fall.
With the current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s approval rating hitting rock bottom, the newspaper analyzed that former Prime Minister Suga “aims to show his presence as a supporter of the ‘post-Kishida’ candidate ahead of the presidential election.” It appears to be a behind-the-scenes move by Kingmaker.
On the night of the 26th, former Prime Minister Suga had dinner at a steak restaurant in Tokyo with the Liberal Democratic Party’s General Secretary Hiroshi Moriyama and former Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai. We exchanged opinions regarding the situation within the Liberal Democratic Party.
General Affairs Chairman Moriyama and former Secretary General Nikai supported former Prime Minister Suga while serving as Chairman of the Party’s National Assembly Countermeasures Committee and Secretary General, respectively, in the Suga cabinet. The three maintain a relationship by having company dinners on a regular basis.
Due to the recent slush fund scandal of the Liberal Democratic Party faction, the Moriyama faction and Nikai faction decided to disband their factions. Nonetheless, they still maintain influence over factional lawmakers.
The newspaper analyzed that depending on the situation of the Liberal Democratic Party, the possibility of former Prime Minister Suga, General Secretary Moriyama, and former Secretary General Nikai cooperating in the next presidential election is being discussed.
Former Prime Minister Suga, known as a non-factional member of the party’s fringe, originally refrained from making comments or actions regarding the political situation.
However, at a meeting of the ‘Political Reform Headquarters’ prepared by the party due to the slush fund scandal of the Liberal Democratic Party faction, the theory of dissolving factions was advanced, creating a trend for the dissolution of the largest factions, the Abe faction, the Kishida faction, the Nikai faction, and the Moriyama faction.
Former Prime Minister Suga also had dinner with Taro Aso, vice-president of the Liberal Democratic Party, the leader of the Aso faction, which maintains a factional policy, on the night of the 22nd. These two people have significant differences in their positions regarding factions. Former Prime Minister Suga appears to have intended to explore Vice President Aso’s future movements through the company dinner.
According to Yomiuri, former Prime Minister Suga is a candidate for president who can dispel the negative image of the Liberal Democratic Party due to the slush fund scandal. Taro Kono (河野太郞), a highly-known digital leader, former secretary-general Shigeru Ishiba (石破茂), and Shinjiro Koizumi (小泉進次) The province has high expectations for the overall environment.
He also has something in common with Digital Minister Kono and former Environment Minister Koizumi in having a constituency in Kanagawa Prefecture. Former Prime Minister Suga is also coordinating a dinner with these two people.
Former Prime Minister Suga is poised to seriously review his response to the presidential election by observing public opinion and the political situation within the party. An executive of the Liberal Democratic Party diagnosed that former Prime Minister Suga “may be a strategy to increase (his) presence by holding multiple (governor election candidates) cards.”
In Japan, which has a cabinet system, the president of the ruling party becomes prime minister. Currently, Kishida, President of the Liberal Democratic Party, serves as Prime Minister. Prime Minister Kishida’s term as president ends in September this year.
The Liberal Democratic Party calculates National Assembly votes and party member votes equally in the presidential election. In the September 2021 presidential election, in which Prime Minister Kishida won, one vote was given to each of the 382 members of the Liberal Democratic Party at the time.
Accordingly, votes were received from 1,104,336 party members nationwide, each prefecture (metropolitan local government) counted them, and then the votes were tabulated at the party headquarters. This was reduced to 383 votes using the highest average method and distributed to candidates.
Usually, lawmakers belonging to a faction voted for the candidate the faction decided to support.
However, due to the recent unprecedented slush fund scandal, some factions were disbanded, making it unclear whether voting will be conducted by faction as before.
Yomiuri reported that former Prime Minister Suga said to a young member of the party that there was an ongoing process of disintegration and gathering, and that “a lot of things will happen ahead of the presidential election.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.