YDS 2021 in Review
2021 is an anthology of articles, photo essays and opinions of students in international relations. With a year full of decade-defining events across the globe, this anthology is a must-read to reflect upon the year that was 2021. This anthology was created by Young Diplomats Society. For more information, please visit our website www.theyoungdiplomats.com.
2021 is an anthology of articles, photo essays and opinions of students in international relations. With a year full of decade-defining events across the globe, this anthology is a must-read to reflect upon the year that was 2021.
This anthology was created by Young Diplomats Society. For more information, please visit our website www.theyoungdiplomats.com.
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Before Japan’s longest serving prime minister in the post-war period, Shinzo Abe,
came to power in 2012, Japan had been through six prime ministers in six years.
Last September, Abe resigned due to chronic health issues. In his wake, Yoshihide
Suga was selected as prime minister by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),
which has dominated Japanese politics for decades. However, after just twelve
months he has stepped down, leading to concerns that Japan will return to the
unstable pre-Abe revolving door of prime ministers.
Admittedly, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Suga had a challenging task
ahead of him. Nevertheless, he started with a strong approval rating of 70 per cent,
promising to lead Japan through the pandemic. However, before long, his rigid
communication style and dismissiveness towards journalists led to concern about
his leadership. Among other blunders, his indecisive action on COVID-19 outbreaks
and his decision to push forward with the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, despite it being
opposed by some 80 per cent of Japanese citizens, led to a catastrophic plummet in
his approval ratings, from 41 per cent in January to 26 per cent in August of this
year. Suga was not the leader of any of the LDP’s factions, and having lost the
confidence of party leaders, he was forced to announce that he would withdraw
from the contest for party leadership in September.
This led to a contest for the role of prime minister between four candidates: crowd
favourite Taro Kono, ex-foreign minister Fumio Kishida, the Abe-backed ultranationalist
Sanae Takaichi, and liberal Seiko Noda. The latter two female candidates
were knocked out of the race in the first round of voting within the LDP, with Kishida
narrowly pulling ahead of Kono 256 votes to 255. As Suga’s election showed,
however, the candidate chosen as prime minister is not necessarily the most
popular among the public, but is the candidate who party heavyweights believe can
lead the party to victory on a viable policy platform.
by Daniel Gage-Brown
P A G E 6 2 | 2 0 2 1 B Y Y D S
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