Abe marks 2,887th day in PM’s seat
TOKYO: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made history yesterday by becoming Japan’s longest-serving political leader, though he hasn’t achieved his biggest goal of revising the nation’s pacifist constitution.
Mr Abe marked his 2,887th day in office, surpassing Taro Katsura from the early 20th century.
“Day by day, I have made efforts to achieve the policies that I have promised, and because of these daily efforts I’m here to mark this day,” Mr Abe told reporters.
Following his disappointing 20062007 term, Mr Abe returned to office in 2012 and has since bolstered Japan’s defence role but hasn’t yet been able to change the constitution to allow a full-fledged military.
Mr Abe has been stepping up his effort for such a change before his party leadership, his third term, ends in September 2021. That, however, is a challenge because of the lack of public interest.
Mr Abe must obtain approval by twothirds of both houses of parliament plus a majority in a national referendum to make any revision to the constitution.
Mr Abe yesterday renewed his pledge to beat deflation, tackle Japan’s ageing and declining population and achieve a constitutional revision.
He said he still has two more years left in his current term as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, pledging to tackle unfinished political goals.
Mr Abe’s resignation after his scandal-laden first time was the beginning of
six years of annual leadership change, remembered as the era of “revolving door” politics that lacked stability and long-term policies.
When he returned to office in 2012, he vowed to revitalise the nation and get its economy out of the deflationary doldrums.
His “Abenomics” formula of stimulating consumer demand through government spending, massive injections of cash into the economy via central bank purchases of government bonds, and sweeping structural reforms has kept the economy growing but at a much slower rate than promised.