Japan's Fumio Kishida calls for unity after winning LDP's election

Former Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) election and is set to become the country's next Prime Minister, with the immediate task of dealing with a pandemic-ravaged economy and ensuring a strong alliance with the United States to counter growing regional security threats. Kishida, the country's former foreign minister from 2012 to 2017, won a runoff with 257 votes against his opponent, vaccination Minister Taro Kono, who garnered 170 votes.

Addressing a meeting of the LDP lawmakers, Kishida urged for unity as he prepares to lead the party into a general election in November and the election of the higher House of Councillors the following year, according to the news agency Xinhua. He said that his administration needed to come up with a multi-trillion-yen stimulus package before the end of the year in an attempt to minimise the economic effects of the COVID pandemic.  

At the meeting, Kishida also promised to reverse previous governments' neoliberal policies so that ordinary people can benefit from economic progress. Meanwhile, in his victory speech, Kishida pledged to address Japan's "national crises," such as COVID-19, the pandemic-ravaged economy, and the country's dwindling population and birthrate. He also vowed to pursue vital issues concerning Japan's future through a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific to tackle China's assertiveness in the region, according to The Associated Press (AP). The report also stated that the long-ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party is in serious need to boost the declining public support ahead of the upcoming lower house elections in two months. 

Fumio Kishida faces pressure to improve LDP's image

The new LDP president also faces pressure to improve the party's haughty image, which was exacerbated by Suga's handling of the pandemic and insistence on holding the Summer Olympics in Tokyo despite rising infection rates. It is worth mentioning here that Kishida was elected as the next LDP leader with a large majority of the party parliamentarians' votes. In the first round of voting, two female candidates, Sanae Takaichi, former communications minister, and Seiko Noda, LDP executive acting secretary-general, were defeated in the four-way contest. As the LDP-led coalition has a majority in both chambers of Japan's parliament, the new party president is expected to be chosen Prime Minister in a special Diet session on October 4, succeeding incumbent Yoshihide Suga, reported The AP. 

(Image: AP)