Ishiba stresses value of humility in party

Shigeru Ishiba has won the leadership contest of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and he is set to take over as Japan’s prime minister next week. This was the fifth time he was bidding for the party leadership. He failed to make it the last four times.

Before the contest, Ishiba, 67, declared that this would be the last time that he would fight. But he managed to win despite the fact that he is seen as a loner, who does not belong to any faction and he has antagonised several sections in the party with his frank views and positions.

He has been one of the strong critics of outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He has served as defence minister and also as agriculture minister. But he has been out of government for many years now. It has indeed been a surprise victory.

Observers feel that the LDP, which has been racked by corruption scandals and whose popularity has fallen, opened up space for self-described ‘lone wolf’ Ishiba. But after he got elected as leader of the party, he said, “I have undoubtedly hurt many people’s feelings, caused unpleasant experiences and made many suffer. I sincerely apologise for all of my shortcomings.” 

But he was also firm on what he wants to do as Japan’s next prime minister. He also told the party members, “We ought to be a party that lets members discuss the truth in a free and open manner, a party that is fair and impartial on all matters and a party with humility.”

A man with such pronounced views, he is set to ruffle many feathers among Japan’s allies. And he has already done that when during the leadership campaign he talked about the need for an Asian NATO to counter the rising power of China.

This has alarmed the wonks in Washington and it was rejected by a US senior official as hasty. Ishiba argues for a NATO-type Asian alliance because he sees the US as a declining power and Japan cannot depend on the Americans to defend Japan’s security concerns. Ishiba wants a closer military tie-up between Japan, South Korea and Australia to counter China, Russia and North Korea.

Ishiba’s hawkish ideas are not going to be implemented any time soon, but it will make the Americans anxious because they do not want to rock the boat as it were. All that the Americans want are a safe and peaceful Indo-Pacific. Washington would not mind indulging in sabre-rattling against China, but it will remain at that. Ishiba is looking for an alternative bulwark apart from the US.

Ishiba also holds rather strange positions. He has been a strong critic of nuclear power in Japan. And he wants the government to spread across Japan instead of being concentrated in Tokyo. He believes that shifting administrative units to other places in Japan would stimulate economic growth in the other parts of Japan. He is also keen that Japan’s consumption, which now accounts for 54 per cent of the GDP, should go further up so that it will spur economic growth.

And to top his unorthodox political positions, Ishiba is an intellectual heavyweight, who says he reads three books a day, and that he would rather spend time reading than chatting with political colleagues. There is a temptation to call him a maverick, but he is far from one. He has spent 40 years in politics, and his father was a known provincial politician. His understanding of politics is derived from his own participation in the political process, and his contacts with people at the ground level.