Tokyo (AFP) – Japan’s unpopular minority government approved on Friday an extra budget to help pay for a massive stimulus package after the ruling coalition’s worst election result in 15 years. The hoped-for lift to the economy is also aimed at boosting Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s popularity after a gaffe-riddled start, including an embarrassing video of him eating.
The extra budget approved by the cabinet is worth 13.9 trillion yen ($92 billion) and is expected to be approved in parliament by the end of the year. It will be partly funded by issuing bonds worth over 6.6 trillion yen. This budget includes 1.5 trillion yen to boost Japan’s chip and AI sectors, as part of a 10-trillion-yen push over the coming years that had been previously announced.
Last week, Ishiba’s cabinet approved a 21.9-trillion-yen stimulus drive, with the overall impact expected to be worth 39 trillion yen. This package includes handouts of around 30,000 yen for low-income households, fuel and energy subsidies, and assistance to small businesses. Ishiba, who is 67 years old, took office on October 1 after the resignation of unpopular predecessor Fumio Kishida, and he called snap elections soon afterwards.
However, the move backfired, with voters angered over corruption within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) — which has governed almost non-stop for decades — and by rising prices. The ruling coalition of the LDP and the smaller Komeito party was deprived of a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time since 2009.
Ishiba has promised to revitalize depressed rural regions and to address the “quiet emergency” of Japan’s shrinking population, which is the world’s second-oldest. A poll in the Mainichi Shimbun daily on Sunday reported the cabinet’s approval rating at 31 percent, down 15 points from early October, with a disapproval score of 50 percent.
Ishiba drew ridicule after being photographed apparently napping in parliament this month, and for failing to stand up to greet other world leaders at a gathering in South America. Worse was a video that emerged of Ishiba eating an onigiri rice ball — a popular snack — whole and munching on it without closing his mouth. One user on X commented, “He eats like a three-year-old,” while another asked, “How could he have risen to the top with these manners?”
© 2024 AFP
