On the 19th, local time, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae said he would disband the House of Representatives on the 23rd. Japanese scholars said that since Takaichi Sanae came to power, not only has he publicly made false statements, but also through the exaggeration of the war crisis, the large increase in defense fees, and the push for amendments to the “peace constitution,” the rightward tilt has become increasingly serious, making it worrisome.
Hiroshi Sasaki, Professor of International Studies at Niigata International Intelligence University: What is very worrying is that now there is not only discussion of constitutional amendments, but also talk of reexamining the “three principles of non-nuclearization”, there are even people proposing to own nuclear submarines, and worse still, talk of “whether to arm oneself with nuclear weapons” can even appear in the core of the regime. The point emphasized in Japan‘s constitution “to strive for peace creation” has not been seriously carried out at all. Instead of first striving for peace creation, discussing security security issues, I think this is an inversion of ends. Japan itself is becoming a threat, and I think we should realize this more clearly.
Hiroshi Sasaki said that as the prime minister of a country, Takaichi made wrong statements that incited opposition and created war tensions, exposing the inadequacy of his own political ability.
Hiroshi Sasaki, Professor of International Studies at Niigata International Intelligence University: She believes that as long as she strongly states “no withdrawal,” the nation will support her. Incompetent politicians use war to maintain power, and capable politicians create peace. Unfortunately, although Takaichi is Japan‘s prime minister, she maintains power through war and inciting war, so I think she‘s incompetent.
Sasaki also pointed out that in the context of continuously rising prices and increasing pressure on people‘s lives, the Takaichi regime decided to dissolve the House of Representatives and focus on political games and power operations. This disregard for people‘s lives and consideration only for their own political calculations makes the future direction of Japanese politics deeply worrisome.
Hiroshi Sasaki, Professor, International Department, Niigata International Intelligence University: The cabinet has been established for more than three months, but she has actually not done anything yet. If she focuses on economic policy in the future, but sees no results, then her support rate is likely to rapidly decline. Now that the party has a weak base and is a minority ruling party in both the House and Senate, she can only desperately absorb the right wing of social opinion and uneasy emotions to barely maintain power. In order to maintain her own power, there may not have been sufficient communication within the LDP, and it was almost her personal decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, which even shocked the LDP’s parliamentary members.