Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s pet projects failed to resonate with voters because of his non-commitment, but he still has a chance to make his mark in politics, political scientist Izuru Makihara said.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Makihara, a professor at the University of Tokyo, said Kishida should now show the path to complete his half-finished political reform and present “a newborn LDP” before his term expires next month.

Makihara also said Kishida’s successor faces the daunting task of gaining public support for imposing an increased financial burden resulting from Kishida’s promise to bolster budgets for national defense and measures to halt the falling birthrate without fleshing out details.

Excerpts from the interview with Makihara follow:

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Kishida put forward “New Form of Capitalism,” “Vision for a Digital Garden City Nation” and “Reiwa Era Version of the Income Doubling Plan” in the early years of his administration.

Instead of suspending the policies promoted by the Abe administration, Kishida gave them new names and gradually revised them.

He used a well-planned method to win support for those policies within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The policies also raised the public’s expectations for redistribution of income and correction of wealth disparity because the policies’ names descended from Kochi-kai, which was known as an intraparty policy group of doves.

The original Income Doubling Plan was initiated in 1960 by Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda, who founded Kochi-kai. The Reiwa Era started in 2019 when Emperor Naruhito ascended.

However, Kishida never made a sustained commitment to any of the policies’ names.

Shinzo Abe impressed the public with his “Abenomics” economic policy by repeating its name at every opportunity.

Kishida should have continued emphasizing “New Form of Capitalism” and effectively explained its connections with wage increases and other benefits.

The “Vision for a Digital Garden City Nation” was designed to revitalize provincial areas by solving the issues they face through digitization.

But the initiative’s vision was lost because all policies related to digitization appeared to have fallen under a one-person business of Taro Kono, minister for digital transformation.

Kishida also used “different dimensions” to describe enhanced measures to stem the nation’s declining birthrate.

While it was easy to understand that he was redoubling efforts to tackle the problem, the wording was over the top.

The phrase was a favorite of Abe’s, as in his “monetary easing in different dimensions.”

The fact that Kishida used “different dimensions” after Abe’s death indicated that he was unable to break away from the influence of the Abe administration.

Kishida also failed to develop the concepts he put forth through multi-layered efforts.

Successive prime ministers advocated concepts, such as Hayato Ikeda’s “Income Doubling Plan” and Kakuei Tanaka’s “Plan for Remodeling the Japanese Archipelago.” And they assembled teams of government bureaucrats and experts to put them into practice.

Former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, who belonged to Kochi-kai, also brought together a wide range of experts, such as scholars and cultural figures, to develop his “National Garden City Initiative.”

However, Kishida lacked the strength to incorporate expert knowledge and failed to make sufficient preparations before he took office.

While the world was dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russia started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the cost of living skyrocketed.

Kishida needed to formulate elaborate policies to respond to those challenges.

Instead, he made decisions on the run. He came up with impromptu concepts, as if to clear a hurdle, only to soon jump to another concept.

Kishida may have done what he was supposed to do, but the public apparently perceived his ad hoc approach as lacking substance.

In announcing his resignation at a news conference, Kishida said, “It is necessary to demonstrate a newborn LDP to the public.”

His potential successors appear reluctant to implement reforms that will be accompanied by pain because they are seeking support from their fellow lawmakers.

Media outlets have reported that the new prime minister may dissolve the Diet for a snap election at an early date if the LDP’s support ratings rise.

Things will not be that simple.

For one thing, the fund-raising scandal that embroiled the LDP will not end even if Kishida is replaced.

The Kishida administration postponed decisions or gave only ambiguous explanations on how to fund increased spending on defense and measures to reverse the falling birthrate.

In the next Lower House election, the LDP must seek public support for those financial burdens. Herculean challenges await anyone who takes over the reins of government.

Kishida still has one month before he exits.

Former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita stepped down to take responsibility for the public’s distrust in politics following the Recruit influence-peddling scandal.

After announcing his resignation, Takeshita decided the outline of political reform, which lowered the amount of political funds for which disclosure was required and limited the purchase of tickets for fund-raising parties.

Following discussions on the latest money-in-politics scandal, the LDP’s Headquarters for Political Reform only compiled an interim report.

It remains to be seen whether Kishida can draw a road map for resolving the remaining issues to present “a newborn LDP.”

(This article is based on an interview by Kazuki Uechi.)