Kishida Says Japan’s Elections Will Be Held Before Increased Defense Spending Increase

Dec. 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said Tuesday that he expects the next general election to take place before a possible increase in defense spending, without specifying the date.

“We are going to ask the people to assume an additional burden from an appropriate time between 2024 and 2027. We are going to decide the start date, but I think there will be elections before that,” Kishida explained in an interview with Japanese media.

The Japanese government presented last Friday annual budgets characterized by an unprecedented size allocation to the country’s military spending of 6.8 trillion yen (about 48,000 million euros) to support the new and aggressive strategic defense policy planned to counter the threat posed by North Korea and Chinese expansion in the Indo-Pacific region.

The document is about the most ambitious strategic review since World War II, one that could anticipate a radical turn to a historical policy limited to national “self-defense”, and by which the Japanese forces would end up being able to launch counterattacks outside their borders.

The new item of defense spending for 2023 increases by 26.4 percent compared to last year and represents the first step to break the historical ceiling of allocation of 1 percent of GDP to the military sector, with the intention of raising it up to 2 percent in 2027, in line with NATO expectations, despite the fact that the country’s fiscal health is the worst among major industrialized economies, with public debt more than twice GDP.

This announcement has met with resistance among citizens, as it is intended to finance an unprecedented expansion of defense spending. In fact, survivors of the atomic bombs demonstrated this Monday in Hiroshima to protest against the government’s plan.

Those attending the march argued that the decision of the Executive of Fumio Kishida to stipulate the ability to counterattack violates the country’s Constitution, since it establishes a historical policy limited to national “self-defense”. “The increase in military spending “will not lead to a peaceful solution,” criticized the protesters.