Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation on Friday for health reasons. None of the five potential successors now mentioned in the Japanese media can be said to be his. But one thing is certain: The conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which has been in power almost since the end of the second world war, will continue the line that Mr Abe has taken for nearly eight years.
As our RFI correspondent Frederic C. C reports from Tokyo on Saturday, August 29, 2020, the LDP is dominated by the political establishment. Shinzo Abe’s maternal grandfather (Nobusuke Kishi) and great-uncle (Eisaku) had both served as Prime ministers. These big families run Japan, electing the president of the Liberal Democratic Party and, by extension, the head of government. Politically, the prime ministers are all similar, neoconservative supporters of the US-Japan alliance.
If there is a difference among Mr. Abe’s potential succession candidates, it is their personalities. Shigeru Ishiba, a former cabinet minister, is considered a hawk; Taro Kono, the current defense minister, graduated from Georgetown University. Yoshihide Suga was Japan’s prime minister from 2006 to 2007; Taro Aso, now deputy prime minister and finance minister; Former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
A president will be chosen from among the five and will be chosen as prime minister, given the LIBERAL Democratic Party’s majority in Japan. Mr Abe, for his part, wants assurances from his successor that he will not pursue legal action over some of the scandals of his eight years in office. In a random interview on the streets of Tokyo, OUR RFI correspondent Bruno D. D found few regrets over Abe’s resignation.
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