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Ishiba omits divisive proposals in first policy speech as PM

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba gave his first policy speech to parliament on Friday, omitting some of the most divisive proposals he made during last month’s Liberal Democratic Party presidential campaign and instead prioritizing quickly actionable measures.
While he did not touch on proposals to establish a collective security framework in the Indo-Pacific and revise the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, he elaborated on his long-held ideas about creating a disaster-prevention agency and boosting grants for rural municipalities.

During the campaign for the leadership of the LDP, Ishiba, with an eye on the tensions in the Taiwan Strait, touted the establishment of a regional collective security framework modeled after NATO. Ukraine was invaded because it’s not part of NATO, Ishiba repeatedly said during the campaign.

But while he did not make an outright suggestion to form such a framework in his policy speech, he alluded to it.

“Today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia. A lot of people have this concern,” Ishiba said on Friday. “Why didn’t deterrence work in Ukraine? That’s something I have strong feelings about.”

Similarly, Ishiba, who has long voiced his commitment to addressing the imbalances in Tokyo’s alliance with Washington, didn’t explicitly refer to a revision of the bilateral agreement with the U.S on Friday.

But a passage in his speech on Okinawa — a region under American occupation until 1972 and where most U.S. bases in Japan are still concentrated — offered a glimpse of his feelings on the topic.

On defense, Ishiba said his administration will soon set up a panel to discuss an improvement of working conditions for Self-Defense Forces personnel.

Amid skepticism both at home and abroad over his campaign promises, Ishiba opted to put the focus on issues over which there is broader consensus within the ruling party, government sources revealed — a result of his weak support base within the LDP.

In the earlier part of his speech, Ishiba paid a rare homage to his predecessor, applauding Fumio Kishida for his achievements during his three-year tenure and his decision to step down in the name of political reform. In the Lower House, his words were greeted by a round of applause from the LDP bloc.

Building on his experience as a young lawmaker in the early 1990s — when he took active part in discussions over political reform and revision of the electoral system — Ishiba pledged to take a leading role in the debate on increasing transparency in politics.

“I know there are not many people who believe in politics,” he said. “But does the political world trust the people? Politicians who don’t trust the people will never be trusted.”

Though he repeatedly denied any possibility of a probe on lawmakers implicated in the LDP’s recent slush funds scandal, he hinted he might conduct further individual hearings and promised to take full responsibility for the party’s response to the issue from now on.

The LDP’s final decision on the formal endorsement of lawmakers implicated in the scandal in the upcoming general election will be a headline topic in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun reported Friday that the LDP faction Ishiba used to lead had underreported ¥800,000 ($5,470) in funds between 2019 and 2021. Ishiba’s personal office is looking into the matter and will provide further explanation if necessary, the government’s top spokesperson said Friday in response to the report.

The establishment of a government agency solely dedicated to disaster prevention and recovery has long been one of the prime minister’s top policy priorities.

In his speech, Ishiba said his administration will work toward drastically strengthening disaster-prevention and disaster-response capabilities, cooperating with the private sector to boost funding and manpower with the ultimate goal of setting up a dedicated agency.

“Japan is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world,” he said. “We must build a nation that puts disaster prevention at the center and is able to quickly cope with the increasing frequency and severity of wind and flood disasters.”

Ishiba, who served as the first-ever minister for regional revitalization from 2014 to 2016 and is the first prime minister from Tottori Prefecture, the country’s least-populated prefecture, also underlined his administration’s commitment to tackling issues faced by rural areas.

He urges all parties, from the private sector to financial and educational institutions and labor unions, to cooperate to foster regional development, and pledged to double government subsidies for rural development.

”Rural areas are the main drivers of growth,” he said.

All in all, Ishiba’s maiden speech was sprinkled with his party campaign slogans of protecting the country, the people, rural areas, women and young people, and respecting rules — a clear reference to the slush funds scandal.

But ahead of the general election slated for Oct. 27, Ishiba might need more than this candid and soft-spoken language to show voters that the LDP is still the best option to govern the country.

In his speech, Ishiba said that he wanted to make Japan a place where people can be happy again, while obtaining their “understanding and empathy.”

“In the past Japan wasn’t as prosperous as now, but people respected each other,” he said amid heckling from the opposition bloc.

“Before we even noticed, haven’t we become a society where people drag each other down and speak badly of one another?”

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