Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, known as a hawk and nationalist, won an election Wednesday to become president of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party.
Abe, who was prime minister for a year before abruptly resigning in 2007 with an intestinal ailment, would most likely get another shot at leading Japan if polls prove correct and the LDP wins the most seats in the next election.
Abe, 59, came from behind to defeat ex-defense chief Shigeru Ishiba in a run-off election by a vote of 108-89. In the first round of voting among five contenders, Abe placed second behind Ishiba. With no one winning a majority, the vote went to a run-off.
During his campaign for the LDP’s top job, Abe has taken a tough stance against China in a territorial dispute over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea also claimed by Beijing.
“Japan’s beautiful seas and its territory are under threat, and young people are having trouble finding hope in the future amid economic slump,” Abe said while campaigning Tuesday. “I promise to protect Japan’s land and sea, and the lives of the Japanese people no matter what.”
During his previous tenure as prime minister, Abe urged a revision of Japan’s pacifist constitution, pressed for patriotic education, upgraded the defense agency to ministry status and pushed for Japan to have a greater international peacekeeping role.
As prime minister, he also riled Asian neighbors by saying there was no proof Japan’s military had coerced Chinese, Korean and other women into prostitution in military brothels during World War II. He later apologized, but lately he has been suggesting that a landmark 1993 apology for sex slavery may need revising.
After Wednesday’s vote, Abe thanked party members for giving him another chance to lead the party. He says he is now in good health.
“I’m still responsible for causing all of you a trouble with my sudden resignation as prime minister six years ago,” he said. “I will do my utmost to rise back to power with all of you.”
The LDP is a conservative, pro-big business party that led Japan nearly continuously since 1955 until it was defeated by the Democratic Party of Japan, which swept to power amid high hopes for change. But voters have been disappointed in the DPJ and polls give the LDP a modest advantage, suggesting that the LDP would win the most seats in an imminent election, but not a majority. Still, many voters are undecided, so the outcome is hard to predict.
Left out of the run-off was Nobuteru Ishihara, the son of outspoken nationalistic Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, whose proposal to buy and develop the disputed islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China, set off the latest furor.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had said he would call elections “soon” in exchange for the LDP’s support in passing legislation to double Japan’s 5 percent sales tax earlier this year. But Noda has given no indication when that might be, and lately he has suggested that that agreement should be revised in view of the LDP’s support of a no-confidence motion against him in the opposition-controlled upper house.
Noda recently indicated he wants to stay on to tackle Japan’s serious problems, including recovering from the last year’s tsunami and nuclear disaster and reforming the social security system as Japan’s population ages. He isn’t required to call an election until next summer.