Shinzo Abe, the most famous of Japan’s prime ministers

First modification: 07/08/2022 – 17:34Last modification: 07/08/2022 – 17:36

Shinzo Abe, who died this Friday after suffering a firearm attack during a campaign rally, deeply marked the political life of Japan and broke records as the longest-serving prime minister of his country, resisting various political and financial scandals.

Nearly two years after health problems forced him out of office, Abe, 67, died in Kashihara hospital hours after being shot during an election rally on the street in Nara, western Japan. .

First turbulent period

Abe was 52 years old when he became prime minister in 2006, making him the youngest person to hold the post. He was considered a symbol of change and youth, but he also brought the pedigree of a third-generation politician, groomed from a young age to wield power within an elite conservative family.

His first term was turbulent, beset by scandals and disputes, ending with his abrupt resignation a year later. He initially said that he was resigning for political reasons, but later admitted that he suffered from a health problem, which was diagnosed as ulcerative colitis.

The era of “Abenomics”

The ailment required months of treatment, and he got over it thanks to a new drug, Abe said. He ran again, returning to the prime ministership as a savior in December 2012. In doing so, he ended a turbulent period in which prime ministers succeeded each other at a rate of up to one a year.

Hit by the effects of the tsunami in 2011 and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan found in Abe a reliable hand. Abe became known abroad for his economic recovery strategy, known as “abenomics”, launched in 2012, in which he mixed monetary easing, massive budget recovery and structural reforms.

It registered some achievements, such as an increase in the activity rate of women and the elderly. She also turned more heavily to immigration to deal with labor shortages.

However, in the absence of really ambitious reforms, this program was only partially successful, today clearly overshadowed by the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign policy

Abe’s great ambition was to revise Japan’s 1947 peace constitution, written by the US occupier, and never amended.

On the international stage, Abe took a hard line on North Korea but assumed a role as a peacemaker between the United States and Iran.

He prioritized a close personal relationship with former US President Donald Trump to protect the relationship between the two countries from Trump’s nationalism, and sought to mend ties with Russia and China.

But the results were mixed: Trump insisted on forcing Japan to pay more for US soldiers based in the country; and, on the other hand, Abe failed to finalize an agreement with Russia on disputed islands. The same thing happened with his plan to invite Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit.

Declining popularity

Abe, often punctuated by scandals that affected his environment, knew how to take advantage of external events — North Korean missile firings, natural catastrophes — to divert attention and present himself as an indispensable boss in the face of adversity.

He also benefited from the lack of a major rival within his party, the PLD, and from the fragility of the opposition, still not recovered from his disastrous passage to power between 2009 and 2012.

But his popularity has declined since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as his government’s policy was seen as too slow and confusing.

For a long time, he clung to the hope of holding the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2020, which were to be the highlight of his tenure. The Olympic Games were finally held a year later, behind closed doors.