JAPANESE Prime Minsiter Shinzo Abe is proving to be one of the most atypical prime ministers of Japan in recent history. Not just one, but there is a long list of attributes that make Abe stand out among the big club of Japanese premiers.
Since 1885 when Ito Hirobumi took charge as the first prime minister, Japan has seen 63 prime ministers (including those who have served more than once). It means the average tenure of a Japanese premier is just about two years.
Apart from the perpetually fractionated Diet, which always remains divided into small splinter and pressure groups, two other factors have been responsible for this 133-year-old musical chair being played among Japanese politicians.
One, the strong and well-entrenched traditions of Japanese corporate culture, which requires the CEO of a company to quit his job in case a scandal erupts that directly or indirectly affects the future of the organisation, has also drastically influenced the Japanese political system where the prime ministers are expected to leave the office even if a minor scandal affects his government.
Another major tradition of Japanese political system is related to the decline in public approval ratings below the magical number of 30 per cent when Japanese prime ministers are traditionally expected to tender their resignation.
These two major factors have practically produced so many frequent premature departures of Japanese prime ministers, but it seems that Abe, despite being a strong advocate of preservation of traditional values in all spheres of Japanese political and social culture, is now seriously trying to break the tradition of “political self-sacrifice”.
Two long-running scandals have been hanging over his head, but he is not showing any intention to vacate the seat. Instead, he has become more active in the international arena to establish his credentials and stature as a world leader — his forthcoming long tours of Europe and the Middle East is a clear indication that he is not giving in to the mounting pressure from his detractors at home.
The two scandals, both involving schools, are related to his alleged nepotism and favouritism. The first case revolves around allegations that Abe improperly wielded his influence to help a close friend bypass bureaucratic red tape to facilitate him in getting regulatory approval to establish the veterinary medicine department in his university, Kake Gakuen, in southern Japan.
Evidence show that the office of the prime minster was used to get the regulatory approval on fast track, violating the established protocols, by creating “shortest possible schedule” to open the veterinary department at the university.
The second scandal is also related to an educational institution, Moritomo Gakuen, an exceedingly traditional kindergarten that is quite popular among conservative politicians.
One of the compulsory rule is that every morning, the students must recite the 1890 Imperial Rescript on Education that exalts the virtues of the empire, one of the shibboleths of Japan’s far right.
It is alleged that in 2016, the owner was allotted a piece of land in Osaka, western Japan, from the national government at around 14 per cent of the market value in order to set up an elementary school. After the public outcry over this issue, the Finance Ministry, which was responsible for the deal, first tried to justify the low price due to toxic waste at the site, thereafter its officers claimed that transaction and documentation of the deal had not been kept properly.
However, evidence were presented to the parliament where it was discovered that documents have been tampered to remove the name of Abe’s wife, who was once named the honorary principal of the school. Further allegations have surfaced, though not proven yet, that the new school was given a donation of a ¥1 million (RM36,000) by Akie Abe.
Interestingly, despite such haunting scandals, the approval rating of Abe and his cabinet stood at 44.9 per cent in June, up six points from the previous month to surpass the disapproval rating for the first time since early March, the latest Kyodo News poll showed. The rate is better than 38.9 per cent recorded in May and 37 per cent in April, when public support for the cabinet hit the second-lowest level in Kyodo polls since Abe returned to power in 2012.
The disapproval rating declined to 43.2 per cent from 50.3 per cent in May and 52.6 per cent in April. The last time the approval rate for the cabinet eclipsed the disapproval rate was in early March, when they stood at 48.1 per cent versus 39 per cent. Perhaps this kind of approval rating is the kind of reassurance that has emboldened Abe to remain unmoved by such scandals which are generally considered to be a big ticket home in Japanese politics.
Unlike his recent predecessors, who were most of the time figures without even the clout to rein in their own party, Abe has a much stronger control over different factions of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) party within as well as outside the Diet,
There is no denying that most of Abe’s predecessors since 1990, with the exception of Junichiro Koizumi, who had a relatively long run from 2001 to 2006, failed to make their presence felt in the domain of international politics because of their very short stints.
Abe, in contrast, is a different kind of powerbroker, and he is using his long stay at the helm to increase his visibility in global arena. Close associates of Abe have repeatedly made it clear through their direct and indirect gestures that Abe is here for a long game this time.
Imran Khalid is a freelance contributor based in Karachi, Pakistan.
