Financial TimesFinancial Times

Shinzo Abe’s death gives Fumio Kishida a chance to make his mark

By Kana Inagaki and Kathrin Hille

12 Jul 2022 · 4 min read

Editor's Note

A new Cabinet in Japan's parliament will mean policy shifts. In terms of global politics, spending on defence and relations with Taiwan will factor in buffering China's military ambitions.

Assassination of former Japanese prime minister creates a political void the incumbent could fill

Bidding farewell to Shinzo Abe at a temple in Tokyo, prime minister Fumio Kishida vowed to take on the mission of a leader who raised Japan’s international standing and shaped its policy for the past decade. But the assassination of the country’s longest-serving prime minister has left a profound void in the governing Liberal Democratic party — and created an extraordinary opportunity for Kishida to stamp his own mark on Japanese politics. Abe’s death leaves leaderless his 94-member LDP faction, the largest in the party, while Kishida’s political base has been strengthened by a landslide victory in Sunday’s elections to the upper house of parliament.

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