TOKYO: With the COVID-19 pandemic over, nationwide stump speeches are expected to return for next month’s leadership election for Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, though under tight security following a string of events such as the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Seeing its fortunes decline due to a slush fund scandal, the LDP hopes to achieve a turnaround by attracting public attention to the Sept. 27 party election amid speculation that the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, may be dissolved for a general election this autumn.
The official campaign period for the September election to pick a successor to outgoing LDP President KISHIDA Fumio, who is also set to resign as prime minister, is scheduled to begin on Sept. 12.
In past LDP presidential races, candidates toured Japan holding stump speeches and attending debate sessions. In the 2012 contest, fought by five candidates, including ABE Shinzo, who won the race, stump speeches were delivered at about 20 places, from the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido to Okinawa Prefecture in southernmost Japan.
In the most recent LDP leadership race in 2021, the spread of the coronavirus forced candidates to hold debate sessions online.
For the upcoming election, many in the party have demanded that ample time be secured for the campaign period so that as many stump speeches and debate sessions as possible can be held, at a time when the ruling party is at a critical juncture. The election “represents the final chance that will determine our fate,” Takako Suzuki, head of the party’s Youth Division, said.
Based on the demands, the duration of the campaign period has been set at 15 days, the longest since the current party election rules were introduced in 1995.
Recent security-related events, however, have raised concerns about candidates holding stump speeches in many places around the country.
In July this year, Trump was injured in a shooting when he was delivering a speech at a Pennsylvania campaign rally for the U.S. presidential election in November.
Abe was fatally shot in July 2022 during a stump speech in the city of Nara, western Japan, just before an election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet.
In April last year, an explosive was thrown at Kishida while he was campaigning in the city of Wakayama, near Nara, for a Lower House by-election. Kishida was unhurt in the incident.
“Stricter security than in previous LDP leadership elections will be needed” for candidates in the upcoming poll, a party official said.
Security measures at speech venues are expected to include the use of metal detectors to check attendees’ belongings and the installation of bulletproof shields around speakers, sources familiar with the issue said.
When Kishida had talks with reporters during a trip to the central Japan prefecture of Mie on July 31 this year, bulletproof shields were placed around him.
Some in the LDP are calling for many campaign speeches in the September leadership race to be delivered indoors, instead of on the streets or at other outdoor sites, to make it easier to put security measures in place. But opponents say indoor events tend to be limited to LDP supporters and therefore are ineffective in attracting unaffiliated voters.
The LDP is expected to decide in early September specific venues for campaign speeches. “We hope to showcase to the people our discussions on efforts to reshape the party,” a member of the leadership election administrative committee said.
Still, the party faces the difficult task of striking a balance between ensuring the safety of candidates and appealing to the electorate, pundits say.
JIJI Press