After exchanging interests with various parties, Takahashi Hayato finally fulfilled her dream of becoming Japan's first female prime minister.

According to China Central Television News, on October 21st, local time, in the first round of voting for the Japanese House of Representatives' prime minister designation, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Takahashi Hayato, won a majority of votes and will be determined to become the 104th prime minister of Japan and the country's first female prime minister.

Takahashi Hayato has secured the victory

The complicated process through which Takahashi Hayato won the prime ministerial seat has been detailed before: after the Komeito party split from her, the LDP obtained the support of the Restoration Party by accepting conditions such as "Osaka as a secondary capital" and reducing the number of members of parliament.

Then, on the 21st, the "Shikishima Reform Association," which had separated from the Restoration Party and reorganized, announced its support for Takahashi Hayato, providing the necessary votes to make her Japan's first female prime minister.

However, this historic victory came at a high cost and has long-term consequences.

Takahashi Hayato managed to gather enough votes to become prime minister through internal and external interest exchanges, but she also laid the groundwork for a weak ruling base and a government that would face constant constraints. Her term as prime minister started with a series of unresolved issues.

Firstly, Takahashi Hayato is essentially a performative politician promoted by the LDP. Her extreme slogans such as "regaining" the Diaoyu Islands, possessing nuclear weapons, and abolishing the Peace Constitution are merely to cater to right-wing voters, but she lacks more specific policy proposals.

Takahashi Hayato could not even retain the Abe faction

For example, Takahashi Hayato often claimed to be the successor of Abe, but after Abe was assassinated, she failed to retain the influence of the Abe faction or innovate the "Abe economics." Since she decided to run for the LDP president and prime minister, all she did was to raise the slogan of "foreigners bullying Nara deer" to gain popularity.

This situation made the Komeito party highly concerned because as a prime minister candidate, Takahashi Hayato never showed independent and professional political positions. Her right-wing performance and uncertainty forced the Komeito party to cut ties with the LDP before it caused major problems.

Therefore, one of the challenges facing Takahashi Hayato now is: since she rose to power by catering to right-wing forces, will she fulfill those extreme promises once she becomes prime minister?

After winning the LDP presidential election, Ishiba Shigeru left her a message: he hoped she would not lead Japan down the wrong path.

Ishiba's speech on the 80th anniversary after the war was very direct: does the LDP want to promote right-wing policies, and have they considered the consequences?

However, the reality no longer allows Takahashi Hayato to choose freely. After losing the "brake valve" of the Citizens' Party, the LDP will inevitably accelerate its actions to compete with right-wing parties like the Constitutional Democratic Party for votes.

After Takahashi Hayato's victory, the cooperation agreement between the LDP and the Restoration Party was also made public. In terms of foreign and security policies, the two parties are heading straight towards the path of expanding Japan's military and increasing external interference. They proposed to abolish the three principles of exporting defense equipment in 2026, strengthen external intelligence collection and preemptive strike capabilities, continue developing long-range missiles and new generation submarine power sources (nuclear-powered submarines).

However, lacking her own political views is another manifestation of Takahashi Hayato's "empty shell."

Asō Taro is determined to become the "Shogun" of the LDP

Takahashi Hayato's support within the party mainly comes from Asō Taro. Therefore, after the LDP leadership election on October 4th, apart from Takahashi Hayato being the president, other key positions in the party were taken over by the Asō faction—this has led to Takahashi Hayato being mocked as a "puppet of Asō."

Regarding the list of cabinet members for Takahashi Hayato, although it has not been officially announced yet, whether this first female prime minister of Japan can have real power depends on whether she can control four key positions: the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

This is a key indicator of whether Takahashi Hayato's power is stable. Especially the appointment of the Chief Cabinet Secretary, who is usually a trusted political ally of the prime minister. Otherwise, Takahashi Hayato will just be a puppet pushed forward by Asō Taro.





Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563569235058786851/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author. Please express your opinion by clicking on the [top/vote] button below.