Incoming PM Kishida: We Will Seek To Boost Salaries On Broad Basis

Speaking in a presser following his election a head of the governing Liberal Democratic Party and becoming presumptive Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida states that his government will seek to boost salaries on a broad basis.

• 'We need to spread the fruit of a growing economy to everyone....we must close various wealth gaps."
• States that the LDP will seek to win at least half the seats in the House of Representatives in the upcoming general election. Adds that he will 'decide carefully' on what date to call the election for.
• Securing a strong mandate in the upcoming general election is likely to prove crucial should Kishida look to implement significant economic reforms or major alterations to Japanese foreign policy.
• LDP currently holds 278 of the 465 seats in the House of Representatives, and combined with its coalition ally Komeito has 307. This is just short of the 310 seats that would provide the gov't with a two thirds supermajority. Winning a supermajority in the lower chamber of the National Diet would be the first step towards the gov't being able to alter the constitution to allow for an expansion of the Japanese armed forces (a long-held aim of former PM Shinzo Abe) that could provide a more robust opposition to Chinese activities in the region.