The day had started off chilly but as the sun rose higher, the day grew warmer and warmer. In the afternoon, Verum wondered where had the cool air gone? There was nothing to do but to wait for the sun to set. That’s when the cool night would arrive at MysticLand.
Verum turned to her crystal ball and started looking for news. It didn’t take her long to find one. Verum announced, “Mysticals, did you know that Japan has a new Prime Minister (PM)?”
“Yeah, last year, former PM Shinzo Abe resigned from the position due to health issues. PM Yoshihide Suga took over,” answered Orak.
“Well, Suga also resigned a month ago after just a year in office. His handling of the Covid-19 pandemic was criticized which lowered his ratings considerably,” said Verum, “After Suga, Fumio Kishida won the race to be the next PM of Japan.”
“I wasn’t aware of this development,” said Orak, “Thank you for informing me, Verum.”
“But that’s not the news. The news is that after joining the office, Kishida dissolved the Japanese Parliament. So, Japan is due for an election on 31st October,” said Verum, “And at the same time, Kishida unveiled a council that will look into the issue of unequal wealth distribution. Kishida wishes to combine former Japanese PM Abe’s growth policies, also called ‘Abenomics’, to distribute the wealth among masses.”
“Does Japan have this issue? I did not know about it!” said a startled Orak.
Verum replied, “But the opposition is unanimously critical of former PM Abe’s economic policy. The opposition is a party or a group of parties that have received the second-highest votes in the election. And this is one of the reasons why Kishida’s political party, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is expected to lose in the upcoming polls.”
“Why? What was wrong with Abe and Suga’s policies?” said Felix.
“The policies couldn’t stop the wealth divide. While people did grow prosperous, this was limited to a certain group of people,” said Verum, “The ranks of workers in low-paid jobs grew.”
“So, what is PM Kishida doing to counter that?” said Scorch.
“He will use certain policies from Abe’s time. But the focus will be on wealth redistribution. For this, Kishida is relying on the wealth redistribution council he has formed. Through this, he will try to move wealth from companies to households.”
“I do like the sound of this plan,” said Scorch, “When a small group of people owns most of the country’s wealth, it leaves many other people struggling to make ends meet. Redistributing this wealth equally is important.”
“Yes, exactly,” agreed Verum.