Yasuo Fukuda
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (September 2007) |
Yasuo Fukuda | |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister-Designate of Japan | |
| Monarch | Akihito |
| Preceded by | Shinzo Abe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 16, 1936 Takasaki, Gunma, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Kiyoko Yasuda |
Yasuo Fukuda (福田 康夫, Fukuda Yasuo, born July 16, 1936) is a Japanese politician. He is the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), having been elected on September 23, 2007 to replace Shinzo Abe. Because the LDP has a commanding majority in the House of Representatives, which selects a prime minister, Fukuda will become the 91st Prime Minister of Japan on September 25.[1]
Fukuda was the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving for 3 and half years (1,289 days) under Prime Ministers Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi.[2]
Early life
He was born in Takasaki, Gunma, the eldest son of politician (later Prime Minister) Takeo Fukuda.[2] He attended Azabu High School and graduated from Waseda University in 1959.
After university, he joined Maruzen Petroleum (now part of the Cosmo Oil Company). He was only minimally involved in politics over the next seventeen years, working his way up to section chief as a typical Japanese "salaryman." He was posted to the United States from 1962 to 1964.
While his father Takeo Fukuda was prime minister from 1976 to 1978, Yasuo became a political secretary. From 1978 to 1989, he was a director of the Kinzai Institute for Financial Affairs, serving as a trustee from 1986 onward.
Political career
Fukuda ran for the House of Representatives in 1990 and won a seat.[2] He was elected deputy director of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1997 and became Chief Cabinet Secretary to Yoshiro Mori in October of 2000. He resigned his position as Chief Cabinet Secretary on May 7, 2004 amid a large political scandal related to the Japanese pension system. He remains a representative in the Lower House.
Fukuda was considered a contender for the leadership of the LDP in 2006, but on July 21 he decided that he would not seek the nomination. Instead, Shinzo Abe succeeded Junichiro Koizumi as leader of the LDP and Prime Minister of Japan.
One of his most noted policy goals is to end prime ministerial visits to Yasukuni Shrine. In June 2006, Fukuda joined 134 other lawmakers in proposing a secular alternative to the shrine, citing constitutional concerns.[3]
Following Abe's resignation in September 2007, Fukuda announced that he would run in the LDP leadership election. Because the LDP holds a majority in the House of Representatives, the party's leader will automatically become Prime Minister. Fukuda received a great deal of support in his bid for the party leadership, including that of the LDP's largest faction, led by Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, of which Fukuda is a member.[2][4] Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, who initially had intended to run for the leadership, also backed Fukuda.[5] Tarō Asō was considered Fukuda's main competitor for the leadership[2] but Fukuda was strongly favored to win, with even Asō publicly acknowledging the likelihood of his victory.[6]
In the election, on September 23, Fukuda defeated Aso, receiving 330 votes against 197 votes for Aso. Fukuda is expected to be formally elected as the next prime minister on September 25.[7][8]
References
- ^ "Moderate Wins Japan Party Vote". New York Times. 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c d e Keiichi Yamamura and Sachiko Sakamaki, "Fukuda Challenges Asō in Race to Be Prime Minister", Bloomberg.com, September 14, 2007.
- ^ "Japan lawmakers seek to replace war shrine," Shanghai Daily, June 16, 2006.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Mainichiwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Japan's finance chief not to run for ruling party president", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), September 14, 2007.
- ^ "Former FM Aso acknowledges probable defeat in Japan's leadership race", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), September 16, 2007.
- ^ "Fukuda Chosen to Replace Abe as Japan's Prime Minister", VOA News, September 23, 2007.
- ^ "Fukuda wins LDP race / Will follow in footsteps of father as prime minister", The Daily Yomiuri, September 23, 2007.