Veteran of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) reaches leadership after being in second place in the last election
Victoria Damasceno-Conservative Sanae Takaichi, 64, was elected on Saturday as the new leadership of the Japan Liberal Democratic Party (PDL), which indicates that she will also become the first woman to take office as Prime Minister in the country.
If confirmed by Parliament, its election will maintain the legacy of seven decades of the acronym dominating the policy of one of the largest economies in the world.
Known for being a hard line of Japanese politics, Takaichi’s election is read as a strengthening of the most right wing of the party, significant at its base. During the campaign, she promised investments in key areas to promote economic security.
Its possible rise to the position of prime minister as the first woman in the function, but does not indicate defense of gender equity policies, according to expert heard by the report.
She defeats former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, heir to a political dynasty with more than a century of influence on the Japanese government. The other three competitors, former chief secretary of Cabinet Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, 69, and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, lost in the first round of the vote.
The party veteran comes to lead after being in second place in the last election, and accumulating positions of importance, such as that of Minister of Economic Security and internal affairs.
The expectation is that High and Low Chamber (equivalent to Senate and Chamber in Brazil) confirms it as the new Prime Minister of Japan on October 15, when the PDL should organize an extraordinary session in the house for the election, according to local press.
Until the last election, when the party had the majority of Parliament, the result of who would be the acronym leadership automatically indicated the prime minister. Now there is room for dispute, but as the party is still representative, the vote is expected to be symbolic.
The claims occur after former Prime Minister Shigero Ishiba resign in early September due to pressures arising from the last electoral defeats. Losing in July this year most of the High Chamber, the Senate equivalent in Brazil, was decisive.
The outcome of failure represented for the party, which dominated the Japanese politics of the last 70 years, one of its worst defeats. At the time, however, Ishiba dismissed the possibility of renunciation.
Prior to that, in October last year, the PDL also became a minority in the Baixa Chamber, which increased the pressure in the latest defeat. In this case, it was the worst performance of the previous 15 years.
Now Takaichi inherits a country with one of the largest debts in the world, as well as the challenge of uniting his own party.
Unlike competitors, who would, at least in part, to follow Ishiba’s budget policies, the new leadership bet on governmental spending in areas such as science and technology and other government key sectors such as food and infrastructure production.
Takaichi also promised to revise migration policies by stating that the number of foreigners in the country leaves Japanese “on the skin”. Pondering tourism and the need for workers abroad, Takaichi stated that hasty immigration could create hostile climate in Japanese society, and that the review would be necessary to “live in peace” with foreigners.
Among his promises is also gender parity at the high level of politics. Policy said the government’s government and executive committee will have “women in a proportion to that of the Nordic countries.”
Despite the promise, political science teacher Gill Steel, professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto, says Takaichi cannot be seen as a feminist.
“For progressives and feminists, who expect to see more women in politics, their choice, if it happens, it would be as a wish to be distorted. It is a conservative hard line, and their conservatism includes opposition to reforms that would allow married women to keep their own family names. She not only opposed it, but led a group that fought the proposal,” says the teacher.
Steel refers to the law that requires spouses to have the same surname. Legislation does not determine whether the name of men or women should be adopted, but in practice they are the ones who end up adapting.
In 2015, a decision of the country’s Supreme Court confirmed the legality of the law, which represented a defeat for five pleasant claims that the legislation was unconstitutional and was human rights. In recent years, couples have entered court to maintain different surnames, but notorious cases show that decisions are unfavorable.
According to the teacher, it is important to keep in mind that the party is seen as conservative in general when it comes to women’s rights. “The fact that she is not a declared feminist makes her more acceptable to the PDL, especially for her most conservative sectors,” he says.
