Four candidates’ official campaigns for the LDP presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on September 29, started today. The three candidates, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Ms. Sanae Takaichi and Ms. Seiko Noda, are all outstanding politicians with experiences of high-ranking officials in the LDP and ministers in the government, and I have a deep personal relationship with each of them, but I have decided to support Mr. Taro Kono based on my comprehensive judgement considering every possible aspect.
Mr. Kono is currently playing an important role as Minister of COVID-19, and has an intense and clear vision of the nation that covers all policy areas including reforms of the LDP, deregulation of administrative systems, economic management, social security, and diplomacy and security. Furthermore, he has a reputation of having the capacity to implement his policies clearing numerous hurdles, and his achievements prove it. He is still young and rough around the edges, and still has a lot of room for growth in the future, which is why I believe he has the greatest potential to become the leader of Japan.
On the other hand, there are some policy issues such as energy problem and greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear power policy, the Imperial Household system, and optional separate surnames for married couples that are in direct contradiction to my conservative principles. However, I believe that the politicians’ conflicting opinions concerning the government policy are always resolved through discussions as well as mutual persuasion, and I myself have the responsibility to put this duty into practice.
So far as I am concerned, I am obliged to deploy a political campaign in my electoral district in Fukuoka Prefecture with the prospect of having Mr. Kono win the presidential election so that he will break through the current political deadlock in Japan and recover the situation as the Prime Minister. Afterward, the LDP will be able to fully prepare for the upcoming election of members of the House of Representatives scheduled for October. I would highly appreciate your kind support and maximum cooperation to our campaign to support Mr. Kono.
