TOKYO: Japan’s main opposition party chose former premier Shinzo Abe as its new leader yesterday, a victory that could see him reinstated as prime minister in general elections expected this year.
The hawkish conservative, who was Japan’s youngest ever prime minister during his year-long stint, comfortably beat his rival in a run off for the job of president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Abe, 58, who quit as prime minister in September 2007 after 12 months in the job, pledged to work with lawmakers and get the LDP back into government, three years after it was booted from office.
“Not only for ourselves, not only for the LDP but for the purpose of building a strong Japan, a prosperous Japan, and a Japan in which Japanese people will be able to feel happy about being Japanese,” he said.
The once-ineluctable LDP fell from grace in 2009 after more than half-a-century of almost unbroken rule, displaced by party malcontents who had split off to form the Democratic Party of Japan.
But the DPJ of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has largely disappointed, and looks set for a drubbing in national polls, which must be held within a year but could come any time.
Despite the LDP not being desperately popular either, the party appears set to be the main beneficiary of Noda’s woes and is expected to have the largest presence when the dust settles, thrusting Abe into the limelight as the man who must forge a coalition.
His victory on Wednesday could have far-reaching implications, not least for Japan’s increasingly spiky relationship with its neighbors amid escalating territorial disputes.
He has stressed the importance of a closer military alliance with the United States. In a speech Tuesday, he spoke of the need to stand up to Beijing, a common theme in a party campaign dominated by relations with Japan’s giant neighbor.
But on Wednesday, he struck a more moderate note. He said Japan under him would “steadfastly defend” the Senkaku islands, which China calls Diaoyu, but stressed the mutual importance of the relationship between the two countries.
“I chose China as the destination of my first overseas visit when I assumed the premiership six years ago. That was because Japan-China relations are extremely important,” he told a press conference.
“Japan reaps profits by investing in China and exporting to China. China’s growth is necessary for Japan’s growth, at the same time, China creates jobs with the help of Japanese investment.
“And even if national interests clash, I think we shall control the situation by strategically weighing the recognition that the two countries need each other.”
Mikitaka Masuyama, of Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, said Abe the premier-in-waiting may behave very differently from the man who was trying to persuade fellow conservatives to let him steer the ship.
“Despite his hawkish beliefs, it is likely he will pursue moderate policies once he assumes a responsible post,” he said.
But Tetsuo Kotani, a fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, said Abe was anathema to Beijing.
“China has been loathe to see Abe as president of the LDP,” he said.
“Now there are two possible courses of action for Beijing: One is to seek a compromise with Noda’s DPJ-led government in a bid to fetter Abe in his policy options.
“The other is to seek a compromise with the LDP, probably sending secret envoys to meet LDP heavyweights, while treating Noda as a lame duck. But this option is also aimed at fettering Abe,” he said.
“The major risk for Abe is history issues,” said Kotani, adding if he makes any attempt to revise Japan’s 1993 apology over the Japanese military’s use of sex slaves during the World War II, “China and South Korea will confront him.”
Domestically, already-stagnant Japanese politics may stultify further under an Abe-led LDP, said Masuyama, because he is less likely to power his party to victory than one of his more voter-friendly opponents would have been.
“If neither the LDP nor the DPJ can secure a majority in the lower house, that would further complicate an already strained political scene where the government does not have control of the upper house,” he said.
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Ex-PM Abe wins Japan opposition leadership vote
Ex-PM Abe wins Japan opposition leadership vote
Argentine lawmakers approve historic labor reform promoted by President Javier Milei
BUENOS AIRES: Argentine President Javier Milei scored a crucial victory in congress Friday with the approval of a sweeping labor reform aimed at radically altering labor relations in the South American country.
With 42 votes in favor, 28 against and two abstentions, the Senate passed the government-backed initiative into law. The reform seeks to modernize labor relations, lower labor costs and limit the historical power of unions.
“Historic! We have a labor modernization,” Milei said after the overhaul was approved.
Shortly before the debate began in Argentina’s upper house, clashes broke out between police and protesters participating in a demonstration organized by unions, opposition political groups and left-wing social organizations outside the Parliament building to oppose the reform. At least three people were arrested.
The bill, which grants employers greater flexibility in matters of hiring, firing, severance and collective bargaining, has drawn fierce opposition from critics who argue it would roll back measures that protect workers from abuse and Argentina’s notoriously frequent economic shocks.
“It makes me incredibly angry. Passing a law is one thing, but implementing it is another,” said Ariel Somer, a 48-year-old railway worker protesting near Congress. “In Argentina, progress only happens when workers organize. We will find ways to resist.”
Supported by allies of the ruling La Libertad Avanza party, the initiative’s approval would provide Milei with a major legislative victory. He could then showcase these profound economic reforms during his Sunday address at the opening of the ordinary sessions of Congress.
The legislation won initial support from the Senate last week, but must go back for a final vote before becoming law. The government was forced to amend a clause that halves salaries for workers on leave because of injury or illness unrelated to work, after an outcry from opposition lawmakers.
The Senate on Friday may either accept the amendment — marking the final passage of the law — or insist on the original text to reinstate the article. The former outcome is widely anticipated.
The legislative process has been fraught with tension between the governing party and the opposition. The friction boiled over last week during the bill’s debate in the lower house of Congress, as the General Confederation of Labor — Argentina’s largest trade union group — launched a 24-hour nationwide strike, while demonstrators from various leftist groups clashed with police outside Congress.
Milei considers the changes to Argentina’s half-century-old labor code crucial to his efforts to lure foreign investment, increase productivity and boost job creation in a country where about two in five workers are employed off the books.
Unions argue that the law will weaken the workers’ protections that have defined Argentina since the rise of Peronism, the country’s dominant populist political movement, in the 1940s.
Roughly 40 percent of Argentina’s 13 million registered workers belong to labor unions, according to union estimates, and many are closely allied with Peronism.
With 42 votes in favor, 28 against and two abstentions, the Senate passed the government-backed initiative into law. The reform seeks to modernize labor relations, lower labor costs and limit the historical power of unions.
“Historic! We have a labor modernization,” Milei said after the overhaul was approved.
Shortly before the debate began in Argentina’s upper house, clashes broke out between police and protesters participating in a demonstration organized by unions, opposition political groups and left-wing social organizations outside the Parliament building to oppose the reform. At least three people were arrested.
The bill, which grants employers greater flexibility in matters of hiring, firing, severance and collective bargaining, has drawn fierce opposition from critics who argue it would roll back measures that protect workers from abuse and Argentina’s notoriously frequent economic shocks.
“It makes me incredibly angry. Passing a law is one thing, but implementing it is another,” said Ariel Somer, a 48-year-old railway worker protesting near Congress. “In Argentina, progress only happens when workers organize. We will find ways to resist.”
Supported by allies of the ruling La Libertad Avanza party, the initiative’s approval would provide Milei with a major legislative victory. He could then showcase these profound economic reforms during his Sunday address at the opening of the ordinary sessions of Congress.
The legislation won initial support from the Senate last week, but must go back for a final vote before becoming law. The government was forced to amend a clause that halves salaries for workers on leave because of injury or illness unrelated to work, after an outcry from opposition lawmakers.
The Senate on Friday may either accept the amendment — marking the final passage of the law — or insist on the original text to reinstate the article. The former outcome is widely anticipated.
The legislative process has been fraught with tension between the governing party and the opposition. The friction boiled over last week during the bill’s debate in the lower house of Congress, as the General Confederation of Labor — Argentina’s largest trade union group — launched a 24-hour nationwide strike, while demonstrators from various leftist groups clashed with police outside Congress.
Milei considers the changes to Argentina’s half-century-old labor code crucial to his efforts to lure foreign investment, increase productivity and boost job creation in a country where about two in five workers are employed off the books.
Unions argue that the law will weaken the workers’ protections that have defined Argentina since the rise of Peronism, the country’s dominant populist political movement, in the 1940s.
Roughly 40 percent of Argentina’s 13 million registered workers belong to labor unions, according to union estimates, and many are closely allied with Peronism.
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