Ясуо Фукуда: Премьер-министр Японии (2007-2008)

Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008

Yasuo Fukuda (福田 康夫) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori and Junichiro Koizumi. His record was surpassed by Yoshihide Suga, who served almost twice as long. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, Fukuda was elected as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and became Prime Minister in September 2007. Fukuda was the first son of a former Japanese Prime Minister (Takeo Fukuda) to also take up the post. On 1 September 2008, Fukuda announced his resignation as party leader, and was succeeded by Taro Aso. Although Japan hosted the G8 summit meeting without mishap during Fukuda's time in office, he himself earned little or no credit from ordinary Japanese, and when he resigned, he became the first of the G8 leaders to leave office.

Fukuda was born in Takasaki, Gunma, the eldest son of politician (later the 67th Prime Minister) Takeo Fukuda.

Fukuda ran for the House of Representatives in 1990 and won a seat.

Following Abe's resignation in September 2007, Fukuda announced that he would run in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, which would also determine the prime minister, given the LDP's majority in the House of Representatives. Fukuda received a great deal of support in his bid, including that of the LDP's largest faction, led by Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, of which Fukuda is a member. Fukuda's only competitor for the leadership, Tarō Asō, publicly acknowledged the likelihood of his own defeat a week before the election. In the election, on 23 September, he defeated Aso, receiving 330 votes against Aso's 197. Fukuda was formally elected as Japan's 91st prime minister on 25 September. He received 338 votes, almost 100 more than necessary for a majority, in the House of Representatives; although the House of Councillors (the upper house), led by the opposition Democratic Party, elected Ichirō Ozawa over Fukuda by a margin of 133 to 106. This deadlock was then resolved in favor of the lower house's choice, according to Article 67 of the Constitution. Fukuda and his cabinet were formally sworn in by Emperor Akihito on 26 September.

On 11 June 2008, a non binding censure motion was passed by parliament's opposition controlled upper house against Yasuo Fukuda. Filed by the Democratic Party of Japan and two other parties, it was the first censure motion against a prime minister under Japan's post war constitution. Ahead of the G8 summit, it attacked his handling of domestic issues including an unpopular medical plan and called for a snap election or his resignation.

On 12 June, a motion of confidence was passed by the lower house's ruling coalition to counter the censure.

On 1 September 2008, Fukuda announced his resignation, citing reasons related to improving the flow of the political process. The sudden announcement began with a call for an emergency press conference issued at 6:00 pm, The purpose not disclosed until 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the press conference. The resignation was widely compared to the sudden resignation of Abe a year earlier. Fukuda said that while Abe's resignation was due to health reasons, his own resignation was motivated by a desire to remove impediments to legislative and political process due to deadlock between his party and the opposition controlled upper house of the Diet. The resignation led to another leadership election within the LDP. Tarō Asō was viewed as the likely front runner to replace Fukuda, and was elected a week later. His popularity was hit by a controversial medical plan for elderly people, falling below 30% at one stage. He said:Today, I have decided to resign. We need a new line up to cope with a new session of parliament. My decision is based on what I thought the future political situation ought to be. The Democratic Party has tried to stall every bill so it has taken a long time to implement any policies. For the sake of the Japanese people, this should not be repeated. If we are to prioritize the people's livelihoods, there cannot be a political vacuum from political bargaining, or a lapse in policies. We need a new team to carry out policies. Taro Aso was elected to succeed Fukuda as LDP President on 22 September. Fukuda and his cabinet resigned en masse on 24 September 2008, to make way for a new Cabinet headed by Aso. Aso was elected as Prime Minister by the House of Representatives on the same day.

After retiring in 2012, he is now the President of the Japan Indonesia Association.

When Fukuda was Chief Cabinet Secretary to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi he was reported to have made highly controversial comments during an off the record discussion with reporters in June 2003 regarding the victims of rape by male members of the Waseda University "Super Free" club, according to an article in the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun. The magazine quoted Fukuda as saying: "There are women who look like they are saying 'Do it to me'. Those who have that kind of appearance are at fault, because men are black panthers." In response, Fukuda claimed that the Shukan Bunshun had distorted his comments, stating that he had never intended to defend rape, and told a parliamentary panel afterward that rape was "a criminal act and an atrocious crime."

One of the major issues during Fukuda's first months in office was the status of Japan's Indian Ocean refueling mission. After the 11 September attacks and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, the Diet passed a bill that allowed Japanese oil tankers to provide fuel for American ships involved in military operations. When Fukuda became Prime Minister he vowed to continue the mission, this despite the fact that the DPJ which opposed the authorization bill now had a majority in the upper house. After several months of debate and aborted attempts at compromise the upper house rejected the bill to continue the mission. However, the bill ultimately became law as Fukuda used the LDP's 2/3 majority in the lower house to win successful passage for the bill.

In March 2008, Croatian president Stjepan Mesić presented Fukuda with the Grand Order of Queen Jelena with the Sash and the Croatian Morning Star. The decoration was given to Fukuda for his efforts in promoting friendly relations between Japan and Croatia.