Tomonaga Ito | Online weekly economist

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s state funeral has double and triple miso. Amid the growing opposition of domestic public opinion, the opportunity for international diplomacy for condolence, which the government enthusiastically described as “since the funeral of the emperor” (a senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), was almost l only meaning, but the extraordinary story of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, this is because it clearly vanished in the shadow of an important event. The motives and background of the assassination are different from the strong fortune she had during his life and Mr. Abe has no luck after his death.

However, it is undeniable that Abe’s political style, which has been willing to divide public opinion since his reign, has inevitably led domestic public opinion to oppose state funerals, which have increased by the day. . The question of the former Unification Church, which overwhelmed the LDP, also cast the shadow of the fact that the single government’s legitimacy of “six consecutive national election wins” was created by a management method. that does not resort to any means to achieve its goals. It is natural that suspicions remain as to why the former prime minister, who had the closest ties to the religious group that said the LDP would sever all ties from now on, received a state funeral. It was a regrettable miscalculation for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to approach the day of the state funeral without clarifying the two links.

On the edge of the mountain, Mr. Hagiuda becomes a stump

“Even though the prime minister insisted on having a state funeral by force, the disadvantages outweighed the advantages, but there is no point in regretting it. Government officials are desperate to bring scandal-driven politics back into a policy-driven mode. The driving force behind this are two pillars: economy and defense.

First, in October we will formulate new global economic measures and present an additional budget for fiscal year 2022, which includes the contents, at the extraordinary session of the Diet in the fall. At the same time, we will seamlessly add countermeasures against rising prices for each item and industry. The choice of a successor to BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, which predicts a rapid depreciation of the yen, is also positioned as a strong theme led by the prime minister’s office.

The review of the three security-related documents towards the end of the year (National Security Strategy, National Defense Program Guidelines and Mid-Term Defense Program) will include the content and budget for drastically strengthening defense capabilities. on scope and financial resources, but the government’s core policy will be drafted in a panel of experts to be formed in September.

Relocating the focus of politics from scandals to political debates is the way to go, but wholesalers are unlikely to do so. Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, who coordinates economic measures, and Koichi Hagiuda, chairman of the Political Research Council of the Liberal Democratic Party, who is expected to play a role in coordinating the government, LDP and Komeito on issues of defense, are facing the most serious suspicions on the question of the former Unification Church. This is because the two people in the middle of the vortex must lead the two main political issues and will be forced to make political decisions while protecting Achilles.

Mr. Yamagiwa is believed to have been reconfirmed as a member of the direct lineage of former Secretary General Akira Amari (Aso faction), who was a member of the party’s business and industrial community and who was indebted to Prime Minister Kishida in the latest election. presidential elections of the year. Mr. Hagiuda has been reassigned by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry to three party posts, expecting to become the center of the Abe faction after Mr. Abe’s death. I didn’t assume that the former Unification Church problem would continue to spread so far, but …