[ti:Candidates Seek Pathway to Become Japan’s Next Prime Minister]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:01.24]Several Japanese politicians have announced their decisions
[00:06.28]to seek the leadership of the country's ruling party.
[00:11.48]The winner will likely become Japan's next prime minister.
[00:17.88]Fumio Kishida announced his decision to seek the position this week.
[00:25.72]Kishida presented his economic policies
[00:30.12]to the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP.
[00:37.48]The party leads the lower house of Japan's legislature.
[00:43.56]Kishida is a former foreign minister.
[00:48.20]He said Japan should aim for a new form of capitalism
[00:53.32]to reduce disparity in pay
[00:56.44]between high paying jobs and low paying ones.
[01:01.60]He notes that the disparity has worsened
[01:05.52]during the COVID-19 health emergency.
[01:10.96]The race for leadership of the LDP began last week
[01:16.24]after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced his decision
[01:22.52]not to seek reelection as party leader.
[01:28.28]Former internal minister Sanae Takaichi joined Kishida
[01:35.40]in announcing her candidacy.
[01:39.72]She proposed conservative policies.
[01:43.52]Takaichi would become Japan's first female leader if she is elected.
[01:52.88]Coronavirus vaccination minister Taro Kono
[01:57.88]has also met party leaders and is seeking the office.
[02:04.36]Kishida said removal of financial restrictions
[02:09.00]during the reform period in the early 2000s
[02:13.68]increased the gap between people with and without wealth.
[02:20.56]He said that the economic policies
[02:24.04]under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,
[02:28.88]known as "Abenomics," increased growth.
[02:33.64]But, he said, it did not result in improvements for poor people.
[02:41.32]Abe supported policies that aimed to fix Japan's financial problems
[02:47.56]by pushing higher growth and raising taxes.
[02:52.60]Without "distribution" of wealth,
[02:55.12]there will not be a rise in spending and demand,
[02:59.20]Kishida said at a Tokyo presentation Wednesday.
[03:05.20]He said Abenomics had brought growth
[03:09.08]but it did not provide money to the poor.
[03:14.16]Kishida repeated a call for government spending
[03:19.20]and stated again his support for the Bank of Japan's
[03:24.36]two percent inflation target.
[03:27.76]Kishida called for setting up a $90 billion university fund
[03:34.16]to push science and renewable energy.
[03:38.64]He also wants to keep nuclear energy technology.
[03:44.40]Takaichi launched her candidacy on policies
[03:48.80]to strengthen security and help fix damage
[03:52.80]to the economy caused by the coronavirus crisis.
[03:58.44]She became the first female internal affairs minister
[04:03.28]in the second Abe administration in 2014.
[04:09.16]Local media said Abe supported her campaign.
[04:14.72]That helped her get the support of 20 lawmakers,
[04:19.16]which she needed to formally enter the race.
[04:24.56]The vote for the leader of the ruling LDP
[04:28.96]is set for September 29.
[04:33.24]The lower house of Japan's legislature
[04:36.72]will hold elections not long after that.
[04:41.72]So having a popular candidate will be important
[04:46.44]for the party leader who follows Suga.
[04:51.04]Takaichi called for policies to prevent leaks
[04:55.84]of advanced technologies out of Japan.
[05:00.72]And she said she would delay the goal
[05:04.36]of balancing the government's main budget
[05:07.84]until the Bank of Japan's two percent inflation target was met.
[05:14.80]She said she would use economic policies
[05:18.80]such as increasing bank lending and government spending
[05:23.88]to reach the inflation target.
[05:27.72]Japan's economy has long faced
[05:30.96]low demand which hurts prices for producers of goods.
[05:36.08]I'm Alice Bryant.
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