On Friday, former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi made clear that he will call a snap election as soon as possible if chosen as the Liberal Democratic Party’s next leader in the most crowded presidential election in the history of the party.
“In order for the party to genuinely transform, we mustn’t choose a leader who (only) advocates for reform, but rather one who can overwhelmingly expedite that reform,” he told a news conference Friday to announce his first bid for the party presidency.
“I would like to seek the people’s trust in my plan to change the country,” Koizumi said, voicing his sense of urgency about the current state of the country and its politics.
Koizumi, 43, is the first presidential candidate to make his views explicit on a snap election. A poll must be called within the next 14 months.
In seeking the electorate's judgment on his plan to transform Japan, Koizumi would seek to ride the wave of popularity he has long enjoyed with voters to secure a stronger mandate.
According to a recent Nippon TV poll conducted among LDP rank-and-file members, 18% of respondents chose him as their favored pick in the upcoming leadership race — second only to former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, another presidential hopeful.
Touting his candidacy as a catalyst for reform of the party and the country, Koizumi said he’s ready to bring Japan back into the fast lane and propel innovation across all realms of society — through measures that range from a radical revision of the rules on political funding to the amendment of the Constitution.
Amending Japan’s supreme law — which as been at the core of the LDP platform since its foundation in 1955 — is high up on his priority list. If there is anything in the Constitution that is out of step with the times, it is the responsibility of politicians to change it with their own hands, he said.
“Even if there’s a chance that our proposal is rejected in a referendum, I want to break away from a situation where, for 70 years, we have never even given the public an opportunity to consider a change,” he said.
Any amendment to the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers of parliament and a simple majority in a referendum.
In order to show the public that the LDP has changed, Koizumi said he will push through an overhaul of political funding by abolishing so-called funds for political activities and increasing transparency on the “correspondence allowance” — monthly stipends lawmakers receive from the state to cover various expenses.
Under his leadership, Koizumi said the LDP will make a careful assessment of whether to back the over 80 party lawmakers implicated in the recent political funding scandal — based on their individual responses in relation to their wrongdoings and the judgment of the party's regional chapters.
In a bid to boost his appeal as a reform-minded leader, Koizumi declared he will table legislation to allow married couples to retain their respective surnames — which is forbidden by the civil code — and promote the introduction of ride-hailing services nationwide.
His platform for the economy includes a full-fledged review of the regulations concerning workplace layoffs and the higher-education system, as well as stronger government support for startups.
Koizumi, the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a fourth-generation politician, has relatively little political experience compared with his election rivals, having inherited his father’s Lower House seat only 15 years ago.
While he served as environment minister for two years from September 2019, he has never occupied a senior position within the party.
Some of his remarks as environment minister received a great deal of media attention.
Speaking at a news conference on the eve of a U.N. summit on climate change in September 2019, he said the fight against climate change had to be “cool and sexy.”
On another occasion, when he was asked why Japan had decided to reduce carbon emissions by 46% in 2030 compared with 2013, Koizumi said, “The number 46 had emerged faintly in my mind.”
Holding prominent portfolios in the government or leadership positions within the party is seen as an essential requirement for aspiring leaders. A majority of Koizumi’s competitors are veterans with years of experience in the political center of Nagatacho.
”Whether I possess the qualities to become prime minister, it’s something the public should judge,” Koizumi said. “The most important thing is knowing what you want to achieve and making that clear.”
Koizumi's announcement on Friday makes him the sixth lawmaker to enter the LDP leadership contest.
In his corner will be fellow Kanagawa Prefecture lawmaker and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Campaigning for the election will kick off on Thursday, with voting set for Sept. 27.
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