Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida held a political fundraising party at a hotel in Tokyo on April 18. He announced the outline of his proposed policies, including changing the policymaking process from “top down” to “bottom up,” in an attempt to differentiate from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policy line, but he did not clarify his plans for the LDP presidential election in September.
In his speech at the party, Kishida said: “Our policy group, the Kochi-kai, has sometimes been derided as a group of ‘court nobles,’ and personally, I have been mocked as a ‘man who can’t fly.’ We must demonstrate credibly that we will take action when the time comes.”
Pamphlets on the outline of Kishida’s policies were handed out to the guests at the party.
Main points of Kishida’s policies dubbed “K-WISH”
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Key concepts |
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Image of policies |
Kind politics |
Listen carefully to dissenting opinions |
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Warm economics |
Mid-size and small enterprises and the regions play the central role |
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Inclusive society |
No prejudice based on race, nationality, gender, disability, and sexual orientation |
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Sustainability |
Realize truly sustainable economic, fiscal, and social welfare policies |
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Humane diplomacy |
Building peace through the pacifist constitution, the Japan-U.S. alliance, and the Self-Defense Forces |
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However, Kishida’s basic strategy for succeeding Abe is to have the premiership handed over to him eventually. When he dined with Abe on the evening of April 16, he told him he was “undecided” on whether to run in the LDP presidential election.
On the other hand, there is a growing number of his faction members who have expressed concern that amid the sagging cabinet support ratings resulting from the recent string of the administration’s scandals, “if he keeps deferring to the Prime Minister, he will never get the premiership,” according to a junior faction member. (Abridged)
