Ex-Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will have to tackle COVID-19, a battered economy, a declining population and birthrate, and an increasingly assertive China.
Tokyo — Japan’s former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida won the governing party leadership election on Wednesday and is set to become the next prime minister. He faces the imminent tasks of addressing a pandemic-hit economy and ensuring a strong alliance with Washington to counter growing regional security risks. Kishida replaces outgoing party leader Prime Minister, who is stepping down after serving only one year since taking office last September. As new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida is certain to be elected the next prime minister on Monday in parliament, where his party and its coalition partner control both houses. In his victory speech, Kishida vowed to tackle Japan’s „national crises“ including COVID-19, the economy battered by the pandemic and the, while pursuing „important issues related to Japan’s future“ through a vision of „a free and open Indo-Pacific“ that counters in the region. Kishida beat popular vaccinations minister Taro Kono in a runoff after finishing only one vote ahead of him in the first round where none of the four candidates, including two women, was able to win a majority. His 257-170 landslide win in the second round showed a consensus-building Kishida garnered more support from party heavyweights who apparently chose stability over change advocated by Kono, who is known as something of a maverick and a reformist. The new leader is under pressure to change the party’s high-handed reputation worsened by Suga, who angered the public over his handling of the pandemic and insistence on holding the Summer Olympics in Tokyo despite the surging infections. The long-ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party desperately needs to quickly turn around plunging public support ahead of lower house elections coming within two months.
