TOKYO: Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike declared victory in Sunday’s vote to elect the leader of one of the world’s most populous cities and immediately vowed to step up the fight against a recent coronavirus resurgence.
Major media exit polls suggested a landslide victory after voting stations closed at 8 pm, as Koike shrugged off challenges from a wide range of candidates, many of whom were political novices.
The 67-year-old media-savvy Koike is a rare top female leader in Japan’s male-dominated politics and is often mentioned as a possible prime minister.
Koike holds a board asking citizens to take extra precautions in nightlife areas following a spike in virus cases during a press conference in Tokyo. — AFP file photo
Many observers say her smooth performance during the coronavirus pandemic contrasted sharply with current PM Shinzo Abe, who critics say bungled Japan’s response.
The postponed Olympics, due to open on July 23, 2021, was also a major theme of the campaign and Koike pledged to reduce the Games budget as organisers grapple with the unprecedented challenge of rescheduling the event.
Koike gave an “online” victory speech in front of a limited number of journalists to minimise the risk of coronavirus infection.
“The immediate issue at hand is the coronavirus,” Koike said, as Tokyo has seen more than 100 new cases a day recently – many from clusters in the city’s host and hostess clubs.
As for the Olympics, she said, “the coronavirus infection is also the priority here as well”.
A man casts his vote for the Tokyo gubernatorial election behind a sheet of plastic as a precaution at a polling station in Shinjuku area in Tokyo. — AFP photo
“What can we do to host a safe and secure Games? How can we reduce its cost and simplify it? I wish to continue working on our coronavirus measures so that it will become reality,” she said.
Her second term begins amid a growing weariness with the Olympics, as just over half of Tokyo’s residents do not think the Games should be held next year, according to a poll published late last month.
The coronavirus also overshadowed Sunday’s voting with polling station staff donning masks, face shields and plastic gloves, while tape on the floor kept voters apart.
Poll booths were sanitised after every use, and voters were urged to use hand sanitiser as they entered and exited.
Koike’s main challengers were Kenji Utsunomiya, 73, a lawyer backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and two other opposition parties, and Taro Yamamoto, 45, a former actor and leader of the anti-establishment party Reiwa Shinsengumi.
The men were nationally recognised figures, but were no rivals to Koike, who campaigned online and did not mingle with supporters or give speeches to reduce infection risks.
Koike originally won the governorship in a landslide vote in 2016, becoming Tokyo’s first female leader.
She has been seen as a steady pair of hands during the coronavirus crisis, issuing frequent video messages – including in English, which is highly unusual for a Japanese politician.
However, she fluffed her biggest political gamble in 2017 when she created a new “Party of Hope” that coalesced opposition to Abe’s all-powerful Liberal Democrats in the national election.
This sparked speculation she would ditch her role as Tokyo governor to run for the prime minister.
However, despite initially promising opinion polls, support imploded because of public confusion over her intentions.
Born in 1952 in Ashiya city in western Japan, Koike attended the region’s Kwansei Gakuin University before graduating from Cairo University in Egypt in 1976.
After a stint as a translator, she worked as a television broadcaster, interviewing Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and Palestinian Liberation Organisation chair Yasser Arafat.
She first won an upper house seat in 1992 before switching to the more powerful lower house the following year.
She joined the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in 2002 and became environment minister in 2003.
During Abe’s first stint as PM, Koike served as a special advisor before becoming Japan’s first female defence minister.
While she rubbed shoulders with top political figures, she enjoyed only lukewarm support inside the LDP and failed in her bid to become party chief.
When she ran in the Tokyo gubernatorial race in 2016, the LDP supported a different, male candidate.
The people of Tokyo, however, embraced her reformist zeal and gave her a landslide victory, making her the first woman governor of the Japanese capital, home to more than a tenth of Japan’s entire population. — AFP