Category World News

Following Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will elect its fifth leader in five years on Saturday.

Following numerous political scandals and successive election defeats, the conservative party has been in disarray since almost continuously rule Japan since the 1950s.

In October of last year, the LDP and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, lost their governing majority in lower house elections, which was followed by a drubbing in the upper house elections in July.

Ishiba announced on September 7 that he would step down after nearly a year of helms a severely detested minority government.

Who succeeds the LDP will face opposition from the US President Donald Trump’s trade war, rising inflation, and rising populism.

Five candidates, ranging from the son of a former prime minister to Shinzo Abe’s protégé, will be chosen by LDP lawmakers and one million rank-and-file members.

According to Jeffrey Hall, a lecturer at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies, their decision could determine whether Japan will experience political stability or continue on the course of the “rotating prime ministership,” which dominated Japanese politics in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

This is a bad time for Japan to lack stable political leadership, Hall told Al Jazeera, “Even though it’s not historically unusual for Japan to have a high turnover rate.”

Taking a look at the candidates:

Shinjiro Koizumi

One of the two front-runners in the race is Junichiro Koizumi, 44, the son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.

He took over as agriculture minister earlier this year as the country’s beloved staple food, rice, was seeing a sharp increase in demand.

According to Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Koizumi’s work on Japan’s “rice crisis” has sparked a surge in public support.

Traditional LDP leaders and the party’s heart are supporting Mr. Koizumi. He is adaptable to the demands of older LDP values because he doesn’t have a specific policy position, Suzuki said.

Koizumi, who is perceived as a political moderate, has pledged to work with opposition parties to implement balanced policies aimed at economic growth and fiscal discipline.

Stephen Nagy, a visiting fellow with the Japan Institute for International Affairs, believes that despite his popularity, his relatively young age and educational background could prevent him from becoming the leader.

Toshimitsu Motegi, Yoshimasa Hayashi, and Takayuki Kobayashi, three of Koizumi’s rivals, graduated from Harvard and the more prestigious University of Tokyo, respectively. Koizumi attended Columbia University and Kanto Gakuin University.

According to Nagy, “educated pedigrees bring respect to society and the LDP, whether we like it or not.”

Sanae Takaichi

The only woman in the race and Koizumi’s main rival, Takaichi, 64, is currently in the lead.

Takaichi, a former economic security minister, is perceived as a “strong conservative candidate” by Nagy as Abe’s former protege.

According to Sota Kato, research director at the Tokyo Foundation, all candidates have put forth broadly similar expansionary policies in order to revive Japan’s economy after decades of stagnation.

Kato told Al Jazeera that Takaichi is “closer in stance” to “Abenomics,” her mentor’s three-pronged strategy of fiscal expansion, monetary easing, and structural reform.

Takaichi is well-known for having conservative views on issues like immigration and same-sex unions, as well as on international issues like China-Japan relations.

Although her views have won her over the LDP’s conservative wing, they disagree with more centrist members.

Some people believe she will sway more centrist voters away, according to Nagy, while others think it’s exactly what the LDP needs from opposition parties like Sanseito.

Yoshimasa Hayashi

According to Kato of the Tokyo Foundation, Hayashi, 64, is regarded as the “dark horse” of the election due to his wealth of knowledge and amicable personality.

Hayashi is campaigning for an economic policy that emphasizes fiscal discipline while currently serving as the chief cabinet secretary. He previously held prominent positions, including minister of foreign affairs and defense chief.

He is perceived as a political centrist, just like Koizumi.

In contrast to figures like Koizumi or Takaichi, Hayashi offers a sense of stability, according to Kato.

His chances of winning may increase if he receives more votes than Koizumi or Takaichi in the first round of voting.

Hayashi argued that Japan should work with “like-minded” democratic nations to counteract China, Russia, and North Korea while citing his extensive ministerial experience during the campaign.

Toshimitsu Motegi

Motegi, 69, previously served as the LDP’s secretary-general and held the positions of economy, trade, and industry.

His policies include incentives to encourage investment, wage increases for nurses and childcare workers, and price reductions for gasoline and diesel.

According to Kato of the Tokyo Foundation, his economic policies “fall somewhere between” Takaichi and Koizumi’s, who have placed more of an emphasis on fiscal discipline than their more traditional rivals.

Motegi and Hayashi both have factional backing within the LDP, but Suzuki, a student at the University of Tokyo, believes that this may not lead to enough votes to win the leadership position.

Although Mr. Motegi and Mr. Hayashi are well-versed in politics, they still support the traditional LDP. They have some party support, he said, but the general public doesn’t know about them.

Takayuki Kobayashi

Former LDP leader Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, is also a former minister of economic security.

His platform has a strong emphasis on promoting economic growth and assisting citizens with living expenses.

Kobayashi has the backing of many younger LDP members, but Nagy believes that his youth and background could be a hindrance.

Kobayashi is regarded as very accomplished, intelligent, and internationally thought-provoking, but he is still too young to compete with the LDP’s 80-year-old sharks, he claimed.

Suzuki of the University of Tokyo echoed his opinion.

Mr. Kobayashi has been a rising star in his field, but he is not yet well-known enough, Suzuki said.

Motegi, Hayashi, and Kobayashi have excellent political acumen and sharp discussion skills, but this party leadership contest doesn’t address these traits. The LDP’s popularity and revival are its most crucial factors, he continued.

Mohammed Ahmad Ansari has spent his entire life in Varanasi, India’s notoriously spiritual capital and the home of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the congested and narrow streets of the city.

The 55-year-old has spent decades weaving Banarasi saris, which are renowned for its blend of Hindu-Muslim culture with the clacking sounds of handlooms at work in the holy city, which is widely believed to be India’s oldest settlement, dating back as early as 1800 BCE.

However, sales have recently been negatively impacted by a variety of factors, most recently the tensions between India and Bangladesh, its neighbor.

Since August last year, when former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi from Dhaka after an uprising against her rule, diplomatic relations between the once-close allies have been severely hampered.

Modi’s support for Hasina when she was in power was credited with some of Bangladesh’s issues, including those attributed to India.

Since her overthrow, there have been a few attacks on religious minorities, including Hindus, because those groups were seen as Hasina supporters. Additionally, Bangladesh’s businesses have been boycotted or attacked because the country demands that Hasina be charged with a crime in her home country.

Bangladesh imposed a ban on the importation of certain Indian goods, including rice and yarn, in April. India responded by outlawing the import of ready-made clothing and processed food products from Bangladesh across international borders on May 17. Bangladesh will need to use the more time-consuming and expensive sea route even though it can still send its saris to India.

It can often take up to six months to weave a single sari due to their exquisite craftsmanship, luxurious silk, and meticulous zari work of fine gold and silver wire embroidery. Depending on the design and the material used, these can fetch 100, 000 rupees ($1, 130) or more.

These saris are popular in Bangladesh during holidays and weddings, but the ban has caused business to decline by more than 50%, Ansari claimed.

This is the most recent blow to the industry, which has already experienced previous government actions, including the so-called “demonetisation,” which saw India overnight invalidate high-value notes and a rise in power tariffs, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and less expensive competition from saris made on advanced power looms in other parts of the nation, particularly Surat in Gujarat in western India.

Weavers have been forced out of the industry by this onslaught over the past few years, cutting their numbers by half to about 200, 000 as they have since moved elsewhere or taken up driving rickshaws to make a living.

Since the change of the regime in Dhaka, wholesale sari trader Pawan Yadav, 61, has caused the industry to be at a standstill, according to Al Jazeera.

“We used to supply Bangladesh with about 10,000 saris annually, but everything has stopped,” Yadav said, adding that clients in the neighboring nation still owe him 1.5 million rupees ($17, 140), “but the political unrest seems to be making things impossible.”

India has 108 documented sarees, making them famous globally for their intricate designs, vibrant colors, and timeless elegance and beauty.

Despite the current upheaval, more than 3.5 million people work in the textile industry, according to government data, making it the second-highest occupation in India. The sari industry is estimated to be worth about 80 000 crore rupees ($9,0 billion), with some $ 300 million in exports.

The government of Varanasi is waiting for the prime minister to resolve the trade dispute with Bangladesh, which was the result of Modi’s third consecutive election in parliament.

The Modi government announced in 2015 that August 7 would be celebrated as National Handloom Day and that domestic goods would be promoted as domestic goods. According to traders and weavers who spoke to Al Jazeera, nothing significant has yet been said about.

Without enough businesses or reliable income, many artisans have been forced to abandon the trade, and now it’s difficult to even find a young weaver, according to Ramesh Menon, the founder of Save the Loom, a social enterprise working for the revival of handloom. “India has a unique handloom craft that no country can compete with.” The need is to reposition handloom as a luxury rather than poverty.

West Bengal traders are pleased with the ban.

West Bengal, which is located about 610 kilometers (380 miles) north of Varanasi and along the Bangladeshi border, has a completely different situation.

The ban on Dhaka’s saris trading between the two nations has given Bengal’s cotton sari traders a new lease of life after they had been losing market share to Dhaka’s saris.

In Shantipur, West Bengal, Tarak Nath Das, a cotton sari trader for the past 40 years, distributes saris handcrafted by local artisans to various showrooms across the nation.

The 65-year-old was all smiles when business boomed in the weeks leading up to the main festival of Durga Puja, after years of suffering.

At least 30% of our market was consumed by Bangladeshi saris, and the local industry was losing. As orders start to pour in, we have gradually started to recapture our previous markets. According to Das, the sale of saris at the just-completed festival increased by at least 25% compared to last year.

More than 100 000 weavers and traders reside in Shantipur, which is considered to be the heart of eastern India’s sari trade. The town’s handloom weaving industry, which produces a wide range of saris, including the wildly popular Shantipur cotton sari, is well known in the Nadia district.

The nearby Hooghly and Murshidabad districts are also known for their cotton saris, which are both exported to Greece, Turkiye, and other nations.

Sanjay Karmakar, 40, a cotton sari wholesaler in the Nadia district, is pleased with the ban.

The local women prefer to purchase Bangladeshi saris because they come in attractive packaging and the fabric used there is slightly superior to ours, he said.

Sales had been slashed due to younger women choosing leggings, tunics, and other contemporary clothing over traditional saris, which was a result.

Fashion designer Santanu Guha Thakurta, 62, claimed that Bangladesh’s import restrictions would be beneficial for Indian weavers and traders. That also prevented cheap imitations of more expensive designs.

The “Shutdown melodrama continues,” I suppose.

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana summarized the third day of the government shutdown in a manner that sounds like a sigh.

Prior to a weekend break, the US Senate reconvened on Friday to vote once more on a continuing resolution that would fund the government through November 21.

Republicans have referred to the resolution as a “clean” budget bill that upholds the status quo. Democrats have stated that they will not take any legislation into account that does not take into account healthcare spending into account.

By the end of the year, the Affordable Care Act subsidies are expected to expire, leading to a rise in insurance premiums for many Americans. Democrats have also urged Republicans to reconsider changes to Medicaid, the government’s program for low-income households, following the passage of a bill earlier this year that narrows its requirements.

However, there is no known solution to the impasse over Capitol Hill, with both parties sharing the blame. On both sides, there was frustration.

Kennedy remarked on the Senate floor, “This shutdown is bone-deep, down-to-the-marrow stupid.”

Democrats rejected the Republicans’ proposal, which had previously been divided by party lines, for a fourth time on Friday.

Only three senators, including independent Angus King of Maine and Democratic John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, split in the party caucus.

Senator Rand Paul also declined to cast a ballot alongside members of his party on the Republican side. He claimed that his concern was with the government’s ability to finance the program.

The 100-seat Senate chamber’s vote resulted in a 54 to 44 vote, which is far below the 60 votes required by Republicans to overthrow a Democratic filibuster to scuttle the bill.

Democrats’ bill proposes a bill that would allocate more than $1 trillion to healthcare spending as a counterproposal. However, that also lost a Senate vote.

Capitol Hill’s finger-pointing

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated in a press conference that negotiations on the healthcare issue could only be resolved if the Republicans changed their strategy.

“Today, the Republicans performed the same play and produced the same outcomes.” Will they alter their course, asks the question? he told the media.

Republicans were accused of “wasting a week” with four votes that ended up being equal.

He stated that “my caucus and Democrats are adamant that we must protect the American people’s healthcare.” The White House and other Republicans have pledged to make this a “maximum pain” shutdown rather than attempt to bargain with Democrats and reopen the government.

Republicans were also accusing the Democrats of trying to stifle the process rather than sticking with the status quo.

Additionally, House Speaker Mike Johnson argued that Medicaid programs needed to be overhauled urgently.

“Medicaid has experienced a lot of fraud and abuse, so we made a change,” he said. Why? At a press conference, he stated, “To help increase and improve the quality of American health services for the population.” There were many people who were never supposed to be on Medicaid.

In preparation for the Democratic Party’s 2028 primary, Johnson claimed Schumer “has got to show that he’s fighting Republicans.”

However, the federal workers who were stranded in the middle of the shutdown were shown compassion on both sides of the aisle.

Almost 750, 000 people are being furloughed each day as the shutdown drags on, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Non-paying employees are required to continue working.

According to the budget office’s statistics, the total pay for the furloughed employees is about $400 million per day. Federal employees will eventually receive backpay after the shutdown is over, but only after the government employee fair treatment act, which was passed in 2019.

tactics of pressure

Johnson issued a notice on Friday afternoon that the House of Representatives would not be in session until at least October 14 in an effort to pressure the Democrats to pass the continuing resolution.

Instead, his memo instructed representatives to work in districts other than the US capital.

The Senate should be pressured to take action on the House’s already-passed continuing resolution, according to that announcement. Prior to Johnson’s announcement, the House was anticipating starting its work at the Capitol on October 7.

Meanwhile, the majority leader of the Senate, John Thune, made the announcement that he would weigh the Democrats’ concerns regarding healthcare until the government was reopened.

He could not be certain that the Democrats’ aborted healthcare subsidies would be reinstated.

Because we can’t guarantee that there will be enough votes to support the COVID subsidies, we can’t make commitments or promises about them. However, Thune said that I’m open to discussions with our Democratic colleagues regarding how to address that issue.

“But that can’t happen while the government is in disarray,” he said.

Meanwhile, Republican President Donald Trump has threatened to use the shutdown as an opportunity to reduce government spending and funding for initiatives that favor Democratic strongholds.

His administration has already announced that it is suspending about $ 8 billion in clean energy initiatives as well as $ 18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects, including those involving tunnels under the Hudson River.

However, Chicago, Illinois, was made known on Friday by Russ Vought, Trump’s director for the US Office of Management and Budget.

Vought claimed on social media that two $2.1 billion infrastructure projects in Chicago have been put on hold to prevent funding from flowing through race-based contracting.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated at a press briefing that a reduction in the federal workforce was being planned, and that Vought and agency leaders had met to discuss layoffs.

This government shutdown may be over, if Democrats follow the right course. Our soldiers can recoup their pay. Leavitt said, “We can go back to serving the American people.”

“But layoffs are an unfortunate consequence of this shutdown continuing, as we’ve already said.

However, Democratic leaders rejected the threat as being used as a distraction from the pressing issue of healthcare.

Schumer&nbsp argued in his remarks that Republican leaders should respond in accordance with Schumer’s claim that healthcare was a top priority for both Republican districts.