Calls for snap Japanese election

There are continuing calls for a snap election in Japan, as the ruling party prepares for a ballot to replace outgoing Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

The leadership battle will pit a conservative who has alienated Japan’s Asian neighbours against a liberal seeking to make amends with them.

The opposition has demanded snap lower house elections, arguing the Liberal Democratic Party no longer holds the people’s mandate and has no right to choose the prime minister.

The leadership upheaval in the ruling party follows a humiliating defeat at polls for parliament’s upper house in July. Before Abe quit, his popularity ratings had sunk to about 30% because of the scandals and resignations involving some of his key ministers.

The LDP announced today that dovish Yasuo Fukuda and conservative Taro Aso will square off on September 23 for the party’s presidency – a post that assures selection as Japan’s prime minister – after Abe’s sudden resignation on Wednesday.

The premier was later hospitalised for exhaustion and stress-related stomach problems, leaving behind political confusion in the world’s second-biggest economy.

“The totally unexpected has occurred,” Fukuda told a press conference today.

“I’ve decided that I have the responsibility to step up in this time of crisis.”

A critic of Abe’s government, Fukuda suggested he would stay away from a contentious war shrine – vilified by China and South Korea for its close links to Japanese wartime militarism – if he becomes prime minister.

“There is no need to engage in actions resented by our neighbours. We must consider this issue very cautiously,” he said today.

Meanwhile, Aso, 66, a high-profile member of Abe’s Cabinet, has moved to distance himself from Abe, who lasted only a year in office and suffered a series of setbacks over financial scandals and gaffes involving his ministers.

Aso has sharply conservative views, and once suggested that Taiwan benefited from being colonised by Japan in the first half of the 20th century. He also drew protests from Beijing for saying China was a military threat.

He is expected to push a hawkish foreign policy stance, in line with Abe.

“It’s finally time to engage in some policy debate,” Aso told reporters today. “What Japan needs now is an energetic leader, and I believe I can offer that energy.”

Both candidates in Japan’s leadership race have today vowed to push for extension of a naval mission to support US-led operations in Afghanistan.

The country’s leading opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan, is against the mission, saying US operations there have not been properly approved by the United Nations.