Tokyo
Commentary
By Venkatesh Raghavan
After the uninterrupted stint of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, ended owing to his resignation on health grounds only a year back, Japan seems to be back to its days of witnessing frequent changes at the hot seat. The current Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga having announced his decision to put in his papers after an one-year stint has been greeted with mixed reactions, both from political observers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) cadres and the Japanese stock markets.
Though many are citing the handling of the Covid19 pandemic contributing to his popularity sinking to an all time low, international observers felt that Japan had fared well on the Covid front in comparison to other developed economies. Insiders from the LDP stated that Suga who for the large part remained silent failed to adequately communicate to the people on what efforts were being put in by his government to combat the pandemic. Besides, the decision to hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics turned out to be unpopular among the people despite the fact that Japan had fared very well in the medals tally of the Tokyo event.
Also read: Yoshihide Suga is the new Japanese Prime Minister
The race for being elected for the post of LDP president that has been now thrown wide open is slated to take place on September 29. Subsequently, the polls for the lower house of Japan’s parliament which involves direct voting from the people of Japan should by latest be conducted on November 14. On hindsight, the developments commencing from the previous year augured well initially when Japan got the thumbs up for managing and containing the Covid pandemic in sharp contrast to global efforts. However, Suga’s ambitious Go To Travel program that was intended to offer a stimulus to domestic economic activity in Japan soon found its government on the back foot owing to a steep increase in the number of Covid cases by October 2020. Suga forthright announced the scrapping of the Go to Travel project in a bid to contain the spread of the pandemic.
Suga’s stepping down is also seen by some quarters as a move to ensure that the LDP continues to hold sway as the ruling party in the country. Currently with Japan battling its fifth wave of the Corona pandemic, Fumio Kishida, his main challenger from within the party is gaining grounds for getting elected as the next LDP president.
Known to be industry friendly and having already declared his intentions on increasing spending if elected to be the president, Suga declining to run for another term is seen as clearly paving the way for Kishida’s stewardship of the LDP. Another strong contender from the LDP happens to be a professor of politics at the Nihon University, Tomoaki Iwai. However, there are apprehensions about political instability returning to Japan with the elected Prime Minister stepping down just after a year of assuming power. Though it might seem too early to regard it as a trend or re-introduced precedent, the air of uncertainty owing to the present Covid crisis keeps the political observers guessing.
