Defying the predictions of many pundits, Fumio Kishida has been elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan and thus the nation’s prime minister. A former foreign minister, Kishida heads the Kochikai, arguably the most prestigious of the LDP’s seven factions, with thick links to the nation’s bureaucracy.
Kishida has offered an alternative to what he sees as ‘neoliberal’ policymaking, promising a more active government that intervenes in the market, providing financial assistance packages to the more needy in Japan and subsidies for daycare. He has also vowed to reform the LDP from within, limiting the terms of senior executives to three years, possibly a blow to faction heads.
Another year, another prime minister for Japan (eastasiaforum.org)
