A struggle to find support

Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s International Christian University, said Kamikawa was a “safe pair of political hands” but was sceptical she would be able to generate sufficient support among her fellow politicians to become prime minister.

“We know that she is an accomplished woman, a Harvard graduate, she has been in Ukraine, and she has held a number of senior positions in the government,” Nagy said.

“But I question whether she has the support within the party to reach the critical mass required to become prime minister.”

The LDP’s factions, even though many have been weakened, were still more powerful than rank-and-file members of the party’s prefectural chapters, Nagy pointed out.

“The LDP could do itself a favour by pushing someone of the calibre of Kamikawa, but I am not sure if she has the experience or skills to deal with all the factional infighting within the party,” he said.

The consequence of that and other potential challengers falling by the wayside, Nagy said, was that Kishida’s position had probably been strengthened and he “is likely to be with us for quite a lot longer than everyone thought just a few weeks ago”.

Read the full article at: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3248090/can-japans-safe-minister-yoko-kamikawa-become-pm-kishidas-star-wanes-over-funding-scandal?campaign=3248090&module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article

A collection of my audio playlist on Japan and the Indo-Pacific

A collection of my YouTube Playlist on Japan and the Indo-Pacific