EDITORIAL | Ishiba is Making Party Unity Harder to Achieve Before Polls

Liberal Democratic Party president Shigeru Ishiba was nominated as the 102nd Prime Minister by both the Lower and the Upper House of the National Diet. After an investiture ceremony at the Imperial Palace on October 1, he launched his new Cabinet.

Prime Minister Ishiba plans to dissolve the Lower House on October 9 for a general election. Under his plan, the election will be formally announced on October 15 with nationwide voting on October 27. In the abbreviated extraordinary nine-day Diet session, Policy speeches and representative questions will take place in the extraordinary nine-day Diet session. However, sufficient deliberations are not expected within the budget committees.

When the Prime Minister asks voters for their trust, it must be accompanied by the information the public needs to make informed decisions. Is that possible if there is insufficient debate? 

Ishiba has said: "I will face the people squarely and speak sincerely. And I will create a cabinet that gets things done without running away." 

Unfortunately, despite his vow, he is now attempting to avoid polite questioning.

Time to Draft Amendments to the Constitution

As Prime Minister, Ishiba must have a strong sense of pride in being a conservative. The LDP's platform calls for "establishing a Japan that is true to its Japanese character." It furthermore explicitly positions itself as a "conservative party." Ishiba's government must protect our nation and its people based on this philosophy.

We share former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's belief that "Ukraine today may well be East Asia tomorrow."  Furthermore, we are convinced that it is necessary to carry forward the foreign and security policies established by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Creating an Asian NATO, such as Ishiba has suggested, would involve constitutional issues. In addition, it would require negotiations with other countries and a great deal of energy. It would be best to shelve this concept.

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What is needed now is to address real threats from China, Russia, and North Korea. Our goal must be to accelerate a drastic upgrading of our defense capabilities and improvement in our deterrence and response capabilities. Both are important elements of strengthening the Japan-US alliance. 

Hopefully, Prime Minister Ishiba will also take a firm stance against things like violations of Japanese sovereignty.

Reform the Constitution Now, Not Later

Constitutional reform is a LDP tenet. The party has already compiled a summary of issues it would like addressed through such reform. They include the creation of a new article in the Constitution called "Article 9-2" to explicitly acknowledge the existence of the Self-Defense Forces. The creation of terms establishing the basis for emergency government ordinances is also included. 

Based on this premise, the government should seek to persuade other political parties to cooperate. Above all, it must move to complete the draft amendments as soon as possible. It is also necessary to clarify the target time frame for amending the constitution.

Safeguard Imperial Succession

To ensure stable succession to the throne, it is necessary to ensure succession through the patrilineal line. In this respect, hopefully, the recommendations contained in the report on the matter compiled by the Kishida Cabinet will be put into effect. 

This is an issue that shapes the country's very foundation and provides a test of the true value of conservatism.

Act to Bring Home the North Korean Abductees

Concerning the abduction issue with North Korea, Ishiba has advocated that "liaison offices be opened in Tokyo and Pyongyang to provide a foothold for negotiations." However, the association representing family members of the abductees has come out against such a move. After years of careful observation, they argue that it will only further delay the resolution of the issue. The victims and their family members are getting older by the day. We must do everything we can to bring back the missing as soon as possible.

Clarification Needed on Economic Policy

The economy is the foundation of a nation. It is important to ensure sustainable wage increases for workers that exceed rising prices and to completely overcome deflation. 

At one point after Ishiba's victory, the Nikkei average for the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell sharply. Some observers detect a spreading feeling of concern about Ishiba's economic and fiscal policies. It is imperative that the prime minister clearly indicate the policy direction and path he plans to take and  manage policies carefully. 

Public Trust Does Not Come From Cronyism

Addressing the issue of "politics and money" is necessary to restore public trust in politics. Measures ensuring transparency in political funds must be implemented steadily. Above all, a recurrence of the situation in which politicians failed to report party income must be prevented.

It is difficult to understand why the Ishiba administration personnel lineup does not represent the entire LDP. The appropriate response would have been to strengthen the prime minister's weak political base within the party.

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Ishiba failed to offer former minister of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi the party's second-highest post of secretary-general. However, she lost to him only on the second ballot and then by a narrow margin. Instead, he offered to make her chairperson of the General Council, but she refused. And former secretary-general Toshimitsu Motegi, who is said to have voted for Takaichi in the runoff, apparently was offered no key post whatsoever.

What stood out were the appointments of former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as LDP vice president and Suga's ally Hiroshi Moriyama as secretary-general. Suga, in particular, contributed to Ishiba's victory in the LDP leadership election. In addition, Ishiba gave posts to lawmakers close to the prime minister himself.

Divisive Appointments

We were especially surprised by the appointment of Seiichiro Murakami, former minister of Administrative Reform, as minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Murakami is a controversial figure for having referred to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a "traitor" to Japan. He said this following Mr Abe's assassination when voicing his opposition to conducting a state funeral. He was subsequently suspended from holding any official party position for one year. This particular personnel move is certain to incite conflict within the LDP.

The new foreign minister, Takeshi Iwaya, headed up the Ishiba campaign team during the LDP presidential election. It was during his tenure as defense minister that the 2018 incident occurred. In that fire control radar lock-on incident, a South Korean military ship illuminated a Self-Defense Forces aircraft with its targeting radar. Iwaya is the very person who, despite protesting, smiled and shook hands with the South Korean defense minister at that time. Hopefully, he will now develop a diplomacy devoted to Japan's national interest. 

Election Prospects

It will be difficult for the Ishiba administration to come out ahead in the House of Representatives election and implement good policies with a lineup in which the cabinet posts have not necessarily been given to the person best qualified to represent Japan in the job. 

We urge the prime minister to focus on politics that will safeguard Japan.

RELATED:

• Shigeru Ishiba Plans to Call General Election on October 27
• EDITORIAL | Ishiba Must Set Policies Before Rushing Into Elections
• Shigeru Ishiba Officially Japan's New Prime Minister: Meet His Cabinet

(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun