Japan's ruling party elects Sanae Takaichi as new leader, likely to become country's first female PM
Tokyo (AP): Japan's governing party on Saturday elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line ultra-conservative and China hawk, as its new leader, making her likely to become the country's first female prime minister.
In a country that ranks poorly internationally for gender equality, the 64-year-old Takaichi makes history as the first female leader of Japan's long-governing conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Takaichi is one of the most conservative members of the male-dominated party.
An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is a protege of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ultra-conservative vision and a regular at the Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism, which could complicate Tokyo's relations with its Asian neighbours.
Takaichi beat Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in a runoff in a vote by the LDP on Saturday.
Takaichi replaces Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as the party hopes to regain public support and stay in power after major election losses.
She is likely to be Japan's next prime minister because the party remains by far the largest in the lower house, which determines the national leader, and because opposition groups are highly splintered.
Takaichi vows to strengthen Japan-US alliance
Takaichi later said she will immediately work on stemming rising prices, while also focusing on diplomatic and security challenges.
A parliamentary vote is expected in mid-October. The LDP, which has been criticised by opposition leaders for creating a prolonged political vacuum, said Takaichi needs to hurry because the winner will soon face a diplomatic test: a possible summit with US President Donald Trump, who could demand that Japan increase its defence spending.
A meeting is reportedly being planned for late October. Trump will travel to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea starting October 31.
Takaichi said ensuring the Japan-US alliance is her top diplomatic priority.
“It is essential to ... confirm the reinforcement of the Japan-US alliance,” she said. Takaichi stressed the importance of their cooperation through three-way frameworks that also include regional partners such as South Korea, Australia and the Philippines, pledging Japan's greater role in achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific.
She said she respects all tariffs and investment agreements struck between Tokyo and Washington under the Ishiba government.
Takaichi faces major domestic challenges
The LDP, whose consecutive losses in parliamentary elections in the past year have left it in the minority in both houses, needs its new leader to quickly bring back voter confidence and stability and to address challenges in and outside Japan.
Takaichi will also need cooperation from key opposition groups to implement her party's policies.
Ishiba, who achieved a 15 per cent tariff deal with Washington and put Japan's ties with South Korea and other Asian countries on track during his one-year stint, said “I hope the LDP will band together under new (party) president Takaichi to serve for the country and the people, as well as the world and for the new era.”
Ishiba, a centrist known as archrival of Abe, was virtually forced into resigning by ultra-conservative wings in the party.
There were five candidates for the job
Five candidates — two currently serving and three former ministers — vied for the LDP presidency.
Saturday's vote only involved 295 LDP parliamentarians and about 1 million dues-paying members. It only reflected 1 per cent of the Japanese public.
The LDP's choice of Takaichi, instead of the more centrist-to-liberal Koizumi, apparently underscores the party's hope to win back conservative voters who supported emerging far-right groups such as Sanseito in the July parliamentary election.
But the LDP also needs help from the opposition, which it has long neglected. The party will likely look to expand its current coalition with the moderate centrist Komeito with at least one of the key opposition parties, which are more centrist.
Takaichi shied away from her conservative and anti-China views during campaigning
Takaichi like other candidates called herself a “moderate conservative” during the run-up to the election to show their willingness to work with the opposition and stayed away from stressing her opposition to liberal social issues or anti-China policies.
Takaichi on Saturday said the Yasukuni issue should not be a diplomatic issue and that she will think about how she can “pay respect to the war dead and pray for peace.”
She supports bigger fiscal spending for growth, a stronger military and cybersecurity, as well as tougher regulations on increasing foreign tourists and labourers.
She was criticised for citing unconfirmed reports to slam foreigners for kicking deer in Nara, her hometown, and saying many foreign law offenders escaped indictments due to a shortage of translators.
Experts say candidates avoided discussing their usual political views on historical issues, same-sex marriage and other contentious topics, including the party's political funds scandal, which was the biggest reason for their election losses, and anti-corruption measures. Their avoidance of these subjects raised doubts over the party's ability to regain public trust, analysts said.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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