politics

Riding on G7 success, Kishida eyes early election

24 Comments
By Elaine Lies and Yoshifumi Takemoto

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24 Comments
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Surely nobody in Japan is gonna fall for Kishida's ruse. Everyone will see through it, surely.

5 ( +22 / -17 )

The Russians do not have nuclear weapons in Belgorod. A city recently bombed twice by the Russians and now an attack by the Freedom for Russia Legion. Numbers a few hundred diehards, battle-hardened Russian volunteers fighting their own people as part of the Ukrainian armed forces.

4 ( +10 / -6 )

Surely nobody in Japan is gonna fall for Kishida's ruse. Everyone will see through it, surely.

Sarcasm runs deep in this one!

0 ( +14 / -14 )

Please. What was "successful" about the G-7? No incidents?

11 ( +25 / -14 )

Exactly, who deemed this a success?

8 ( +23 / -15 )

Please. What was "successful" about the G-7? No incidents?

That and okonomiyaki was shown around the world. So magnifique.

Exactly, who deemed this a success?

Kishida, LDP and the subservient media did, of course. Why not Kishida finish his term first, he is only half way through it. Another unnecessary, premature election is expensive to the taxpayers. In future maybe LDP can change to laws so that election will be compulsorily held when the party approval is high, who needs any other timeline, no?

4 ( +20 / -16 )

success.sushi were good,photos as well.

cost of this success/paid by jpn taxpayers money/unknown.

4 ( +14 / -10 )

now there's a surprise.....

funny! i seem to recall him saying thee's no way he'd call an election, reiterated on Sunday, according to this article. so much for 'democracy'... public opinion can change from day to day....

9 ( +13 / -4 )

Japan did a great job hosting the G7.

-15 ( +1 / -16 )

FrenchFoxToday  09:17 am JST

Japan did a great job hosting the G7.

So what. That kind of thing is quite easy to do well. It doesn't really make anyone much better off, though. It doesn't equate to doing a great job running a country.

9 ( +14 / -5 )

Early election. Hmm, wonder which party will win (sarc)

7 ( +12 / -5 )

No more Kishi..

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Calling an early election should be a last course of action when serious problems cause an inability of the govt to function or carry out it's duties for the betterment of the people.

In such cases the election is to ensure a mandate to continue the fight.

Riding on a "constructed" popularity wave to intentionally stretch your elected term from 4 years to 6 is disingenuous in the least. It's the method that Abe and other LDP leaders have used as a seemingly normal, accepted manner to stay in power.

That Kishida is even considering it should attract lots of negative attention by media, politicians, officials and the citizenry in general.

Will have to wait and see if that develops.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

Exactly, who deemed this a success?

Those that matter

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Holding an election soon would let Kishida benefit from support rates that have shot up 9 percentage points in several polls since the G7 summit began

> Kishida, who took office in October 2021, saw his approval slide to just under 30% in some polls last November, battered by revelations of ties between the LDP and the Unification church, but numbers began to edge up with a thaw in ties with South Korea and a trip to Ukraine in March.

A flurry of fickle fools in Japan for sure.

Or bogus polling. Take your pick.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Exactly, who deemed this a success?

They successfully agreed to let Xi take care of the Ukraine conflict...

Otherwise, any improvements seen in Japan during Kishida's tenure? Hmm...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Military assistance, restraint toward China, environment, AI and so, those would have been agreed no matter how place is Hiroshima or not. Agreement that symbolizes "holding at Hiroshima" was nothing, leaders' visiting to Hiroshima atomic bomb museum was not reflected to something. But, such pretended politics show helps Kishida Govt in Japan. And, obedient Japanese mainstream media with fearing political pressure avoided to all criticize about Summit, cheered leaders from overseas as if talent, don't mention even existence of protestres itself at all, politics section reporters ballooned imagination to PM or Summit favorably, had fabricated atmosphere as if Kishida Govt succeeded Summit.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Excuse me for not being high on the fumes of the market high making bubble economy levels, but this does not feel like we are living the luxury of that era, if anything it feels like the cost of living is going up, but wages are staying at a 2012 level..

3 ( +3 / -0 )

No tax hikes, no “social insurance premium” hikes either.

Few of Japan's opposition groups pose a significant threat, but the LDP has a wary eye on the growing strength of the conservative Japan Innovation Party and would like to keep it from joining hands with other parties.

The Japan Innovation Party is rightly showing strength, because rather than spend more money all the time, they seem to be keen to cut useless spending to make room for higher priority spending.

That’s hardly a “conservative” idea either, since the LDP has racked up 250% of GDP on useless spending, and they are considered “conservative”.

Praying for an election based on policy, rather than cheap slogans and yoroshikus

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

This bloke is just another LDP balloon full of hot air. What kind of fool promises to spend 5 trillion yen on child care (every year) with no idea where the money is gonna come from? Do people actually buy into the crap spouted by LDP leaders? I guess they do coz they keep voting for them. Well, the 35% of the population who vote do anyway.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

What kind of fool

What kind of fools keep voting for the same ridiculous policies.

Come to think of it, Japan’s 6th graders are educated well enough to be able to do a better job than this, but the fools keep voting for foolish policy. And here we are, 250% debt to gdp, inflation above target….

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

He'll do it, he'll win, then he'll implement all the things people are against, including tax hikes to fund defense spending that no one wants, and he'll say it was mandated by the election.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

fxgaiMay 23  04:29 pm JST

The Japan Innovation Party is rightly showing strength...

It's hardly a surprise that you are yet again extolling the virtues of the Japan Innovation Party, but seriously - what strength? When it comes to a general election they had better have enough money to fund challengers for every LDP candidate or they are not worth any attention, no matter how good their policies might seem.

Even then, there are enough well entrenched LDP, CDPJ, DPP and JCP Diet members who will never lose their seats that the Japan Innovation Party has very little chance of winning an outright majority. They will be forced into an ineffectual coalition, and coalition partners and bureaucrats will make sure their manifesto gets kicked into the long grass. All in all I find it very hard to muster quite as much enthusiasm for these people as you have and unfortunately, I think the LDP are going to win no matter when Kishida calls the election.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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