Will Shinzo Abe’s widow take over his safe seat, or is Japan ready to move on?
- Akie Abe fanned speculation she may take over her late husband’s constituency, viewed as the ‘safest of safe seats’, following comments at a funeral service
- She faces opposition from the Abe family, and lack of political experience makes her no match for Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who is touted as a future leader
Akie Abe fanned speculation she may assume the Yamaguchi No 4 constituency and then stand in the April 2023 by-election, saying during a funeral service in Nara for her husband on October 15: “My husband really loved Yamaguchi, as well as the cities of Shimonoseki and Nagato. I also want to engage in some sort of activity for this area.”
Akie Abe’s comments have inspired members of the Abe faction within the LDP, which has gradually been losing influence since the former prime minister’s death, and given them new hope that his often hard-line legacy might continue. They have not been put off by Abe’s lack of political experience or the scandals that have dogged her in recent years, analysts say.
“She has been with Abe since he began his political career, and has been able to observe him in action and the Abe faction would benefit from her coming and helping to hold the faction together,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University. “There are many who will see her as a safe pair of hands and the scandals in her past will probably not be enough to cause a serious problem.”
“If the fallout from those scandals was not enough to topple Abe, then it is hard to see how it would be a major impediment to his wife,” Kingston said, especially since the domestic media is almost exclusively focused on revelations surrounding the Unification Church.
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