Japan premier race gets first female candidate
The 56-year-old former defence minister is the first female candidate for the presidency of the ruling party in Japan.
By Agencies |
TOKYO: Even as a long shot candidate for prime minister, Yuriko Koike is making waves in Japan, where women in high places remain rare.
The 56-year-old former defence minister is the first female candidate for the presidency of the ruling party. The party leader is all but assured of becoming prime minister because the ruling party controls the powerful lower house of parliament.
"We would like to find out if the glass ceiling for women is actually an iron plate or not. We will see," she told reporters on Friday.
Former Foreign Minister Taro Aso, one of four men in the running, is widely expected to win Monday's internal party vote for leader.
But Koike's candidacy has symbolic importance. "Unless we put more women in decision-making positions, the potential of Japanese women can't be fully realised," she said when asked about comparisons to former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and to Sarah Palin, the first woman vice presidential candidate on a Republican ticket in the US.
Women make up 9 per cent of the lower house and 18 per cent of the upper house in Japan. In a UN measure of gender empowerment, Japan ranks 54th, behind Norway at No 1 and the United States at No 15.
Some experts see Koike's candidacy as a desperate move by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to woo voters after a string of corruption scandals, the successive resignations of two unpopular prime ministers and public worries about the economy.
Koike stands out in male-dominated Japan as a symbol of change, said Steven R Reed, professor of political science at Chuo University in Tokyo.
The 56-year-old former defence minister is the first female candidate for the presidency of the ruling party. The party leader is all but assured of becoming prime minister because the ruling party controls the powerful lower house of parliament.
"We would like to find out if the glass ceiling for women is actually an iron plate or not. We will see," she told reporters on Friday.
Former Foreign Minister Taro Aso, one of four men in the running, is widely expected to win Monday's internal party vote for leader.
But Koike's candidacy has symbolic importance. "Unless we put more women in decision-making positions, the potential of Japanese women can't be fully realised," she said when asked about comparisons to former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and to Sarah Palin, the first woman vice presidential candidate on a Republican ticket in the US.
Women make up 9 per cent of the lower house and 18 per cent of the upper house in Japan. In a UN measure of gender empowerment, Japan ranks 54th, behind Norway at No 1 and the United States at No 15.
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Some experts see Koike's candidacy as a desperate move by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to woo voters after a string of corruption scandals, the successive resignations of two unpopular prime ministers and public worries about the economy.
Koike stands out in male-dominated Japan as a symbol of change, said Steven R Reed, professor of political science at Chuo University in Tokyo.
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