The heirship battle has turned into a quagmire! Secret talks between Abe faction leaders after the first anniversary of his death at a fancy restaurant in Azabu, Tokyo.
On July 8, a Buddhist memorial service and a private meeting were held in Tokyo to mark the first anniversary of the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The morning memorial service was attended by Mrs. Akie Abe (61), her nephew Nobutaka Kishi (32), and other relatives, as well as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (65) and other senior LDP officials. In addition to opposition party members, including Kenta Izumi, 48, representative of the Democratic Party of Japan’s Constitutional Democratic Party, about 300 people from the business community and abductees attended the ceremony to remember the deceased.
After the Buddhist memorial service, the event was moved to a nearby hotel, where a short reception began with a ceremonial address by Prime Minister Kishida and concluded with a tearful speech by Mrs. Akie. In the afternoon, several hundred people lined up to offer flowers to the public, indicating that the nation is still recovering from the unprecedented tragedy of the terrorist attacks.
With the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks safely behind us, the focus now turns to the appointment of the chairman of the Abe faction (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai), the largest faction in the LDP. Currently, Tadashi Shiotani, 73, a member of the House of Representatives, is serving as acting chairman, but a fierce battle for the top position is raging behind the scenes. A veteran secretary of the Abe faction revealed the following.
The Abe faction currently consists of seven members: “The ‘five members’-Kōichi Hagiuda (59), chairman of the policy research council; Hiroshige Seko (60), secretary general of the upper house; Hirokazu Matsuno (60), chief cabinet secretary; Yasutoshi Nishimura (60), minister of economy, trade, and industry; and Takeshi Takagi (67), chairman of the Diet task force; Hirobumi Shimomura (69), deputy prime minister; and Shiotani (68), representative of the Diet. In discussions held last year to decide on a chairman, a “compromise” plan was reached to make the elder Shioya the acting chairman so as not to create a stir. Although there are some who favor Mr. Hagiuda as the new chairman, the battle for the post of Abe is intensifying.
Among the most hectic are Minister Nishimura, who has expressed a strong desire to become prime minister within the party, and Seko, secretary general of the upper house of the Diet.
In November last year, he refused to hold a meeting between the chairpersons of the ruling and opposition parties at the request of the opposition, leading to Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno’s eventual apology to the opposition. Many are whispering, “Mr. Takagi should not be in charge of the National Diet. As one might expect, Mr. Takagi is aware of this and feels that it will be difficult for him to become the top leader. He has proposed that the five of them, including Takagi himself, jointly manage the faction, and the current situation is split between those who agree with this proposal and those who want to see a new chairman.
However Among the five members, Minister Nishimura’s ambition to become the faction’s chairman is apparent, and Mr. Seko has been “behind the scenes” by holding a top-secret training session in Shizuoka with only the House of Councilors, without informing the House of Representatives. However, at the training session, the participants were ordered not to take pictures, not to use social networking services, and were even prohibited from using JR passes.
