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Japan's Likely Next Leader Says He Will Call an Election for Oct. 27 Once He Takes Office

Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan's governing party, the Liberal Democratic Party speaks during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 to announce that he plans to call a parliamentary election on Oct. 27 after he is formally elected as prime minister. (Kyodo News via AP)
Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan's governing party, the Liberal Democratic Party speaks during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 to announce that he plans to call a parliamentary election on Oct. 27 after he is formally elected as prime minister. (Kyodo News via AP)
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Japan's Likely Next Leader Says He Will Call an Election for Oct. 27 Once He Takes Office

Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan's governing party, the Liberal Democratic Party speaks during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 to announce that he plans to call a parliamentary election on Oct. 27 after he is formally elected as prime minister. (Kyodo News via AP)
Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan's governing party, the Liberal Democratic Party speaks during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 to announce that he plans to call a parliamentary election on Oct. 27 after he is formally elected as prime minister. (Kyodo News via AP)

Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan's governing party, said Monday he plans to call a parliamentary election to be held on Oct. 27 after he is elected as prime minister on Tuesday.
Ishiba was chosen as the Liberal Democratic Party's leader on Friday and is assured to also succeed Fumio Kishida as prime minister because the party's coalition controls parliament, The Associated Press said.
Ishiba mentioned the election date as he announced his top party leadership lineup Monday ahead of forming his Cabinet. The plan is not official since he is not prime minister yet, but Ishiba said he mentioned the date early for the logistical convenience of those who have to prepare on relatively short notice.
Considered a defense policy expert, Ishiba secured a come-from-behind win against Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch conservative who hoped to become the country’s first female prime minister, in Friday's vote.
The LDP has had a nearly unbroke tenure governing Japan since World War II. The party members may have seen Ishiba’s more centrist views as crucial in pushing back challenges by the liberal-leaning opposition and winning voter support as the party reels from corruption scandals that drove down outgoing Kishida's popularity.
Ishiba is a defense and security expert and has proposed an Asian version of NATO military alliance. He has also advocated for more equal Japan-US security alliance, including joint management of US bases in Japan and having training bases for Japanese forces in the United States.
Ishiba on Friday stressed Japan needs to reinforce its security, noting recent violations of Japanese airspace by Russian and Chinese warplanes and repeated missile launches by North Korea.
He pledged to continue Kishida’s economic policy aimed at pulling Japan out of deflation and achieving real salary increases, while tackling challenges such as Japan’s declining birthrate and population and resilence to natural disasters.
Ishiba, first elected to parliament in 1986, has served as defense minister, agriculture minister and in other key Cabinet posts, and was LDP secretary general under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

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French Far-Right Leader Le Pen Stands Trial over Alleged Misuse of EU Funds

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP)
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP)
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French Far-Right Leader Le Pen Stands Trial over Alleged Misuse of EU Funds

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP)
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP)

Marine Le Pen, the longtime leader of France's far-right National Rally (RN) party, will stand trial in a Paris criminal court on Monday alongside 26 others over alleged misappropriation of European Union funds.

Coming almost a decade after initial investigations started, the trial presents Le Pen with an opportunity to clear herself of accusations she has always denied as she keeps polishing the party's image in a bid to make it fit for government.

However, it also carries the risk of casting the spotlight on the RN's recurring troubles with the law.

Party officials and employees, former lawmakers and parliamentary assistants are accused of using money destined for EU parliamentary work to pay staff who were working for the RN, which at the time was called the National Front.

EU lawmakers are allocated funds to cover expenses, including their assistants, but are not meant to use them to cross-fund party activities.

Many European political parties - especially smaller ones eligible for less national funding - have used EU money to hire promising talent as aides to EU lawmakers.

Current RN party head Jordan Bardella, who is also a member of the European Parliament, used to work in such an assistant role. He is not part of the trial.

Le Pen's party, which sits with the main group of euro-sceptic and nationalist parties in the European Parliament and argues for "France first" policies on issues ranging from immigration, energy markets and agriculture, denies the charges.

CHARGES

Marine Le Pen is facing charges both for her role as party leader and as an EU lawmaker who hired allegedly fictitious assistants herself.

Prosecutors say another of the defendants, Thierry Legier, had really worked as a bodyguard to Le Pen and her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front, while receiving a salary as a parliamentary assistant between 2005 and 2012.

RN lawmaker and party spokesman Laurent Jacobelli told Reuters last week that Marine Le Pen was not worried about the trial.

"She knows that what we are accused of is having a different understanding, as a French party, of what an assistant role is, compared with the European Parliament's understanding," he said.

If found guilty, Le Pen and other defendants could face a potential jail sentence of up to 10 years, a one million euro ($1.12 million) fine, and be barred for up to five years from public office.

Le Pen has lost twice to Emmanuel Macron in the second round of France’s presidential elections, in 2017 and 2022, and is widely seen as a frontrunner in the next one in 2027.

The Paris public prosecutor's office opened a probe in 2016, prompted by a 2015 report from the European Parliament president to the French justice minister, followed by a police investigation.

Investigators looked at the situation of 49 RN parliamentary assistants over the past three European Parliament terms. They charged 11 RN members of the EU assembly, including Marine Le Pen and her father, for misappropriation of EU funds, and charged 13 parliamentary assistants with receiving the funds.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96, will not attend the trial for health reasons.

The trial will last until November 27.

The RN is under another preliminary investigation, launched in July by the Paris prosecutor's office, into alleged illegal financing of its 2022 presidential campaign.