Sadakazu Tanigaki
Sadakazu Tanigaki | |
---|---|
谷垣 禎一 | |
Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party | |
In office 3 September 2014 – 3 August 2016 | |
Leader | Shinzō Abe |
Preceded by | Shigeru Ishiba |
Succeeded by | Toshihiro Nikai |
Minister of Justice | |
In office 26 December 2012 – 3 September 2014 | |
Prime Minister | Shinzō Abe |
Preceded by | Makoto Taki |
Succeeded by | Midori Matsushima |
Leader of the Opposition | |
In office 28 September 2009 – 26 September 2012 | |
Prime Minister |
Yukio Hatoyama Naoto Kan Yoshihiko Noda |
Preceded by | Yukio Hatoyama |
Succeeded by | Shinzō Abe |
President of the Liberal Democratic Party | |
In office 28 September 2009 – 26 September 2012 | |
Deputy | Tadamori Oshima |
Preceded by | Taro Aso |
Succeeded by | Shinzo Abe |
Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism | |
In office 2 August 2008 – 24 September 2008 | |
Prime Minister | Yasuo Fukuda |
Preceded by | Tetsuzo Fuyushiba |
Succeeded by | Nariaki Nakayama |
Minister of Finance | |
In office 22 September 2003 – 26 September 2006 | |
Prime Minister | Junichiro Koizumi |
Preceded by | Masajuro Shiokawa |
Succeeded by | Koji Omi |
Personal details | |
Born |
Fukuchiyama, Japan | 7 March 1945
Political party | Liberal Democratic |
Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
Website | Official website |
Sadakazu Tanigaki (谷垣 禎一 Tanigaki Sadakazu, born 7 March 1945) is a conservative Japanese politician who served as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006 in the cabinet of Jun'ichirō Koizumi. He also served as Minister of Construction and Transport in the cabinet of Yasuo Fukuda and served his ninth term as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Kyoto's Fifth District. He was elected as President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on 28 September 2009, following the party's massive defeat in the 2009 general election. He was replaced by Shinzō Abe on 26 September 2012. He was only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously Prime Minister of Japan.
Early life and education
Tanigaki was born in Fukuchiyama on 7 March 1945. He attended Azabu High School. He graduated from the faculty of law at the University of Tokyo in 1974, and worked as a secretary for his father, who was the then minister of education. He went on to pass the Japanese bar examination in 1979, specializing in tax law, and he registered as an attorney in 1982 after completing his legal training.[1]
Political career
Tanigaki was prepared for a legal career after close to ten years of study, but his father, who represented the 2nd district in Kyoto, died in 1983. He moved to Kyoto to run for his father's seat. He briefly headed the Science and Technology Agency in 1997. Under the then prime minister Koizumi, he served in a number of positions, including the Financial Reconstruction Commission, the National Public Safety Commission, and ultimately as Minister of Finance from 22 September 2003 to 26 September 2006. Since 2002, Tanigaki has led a minor faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, formerly part of the Kochikai faction, with 11 members in the lower house and 4 in the upper house.
Tanigaki declared his candidacy for the LDP presidency on July 28, 2006, but came in third place in a three-way race against Shinzō Abe and Tarō Asō. Tanigaki was viewed as the "moderate" candidate in the race, mainly due to his foreign policy views: unlike Abe and Asō, he stated that he would not continue visits to Yasukuni Shrine if he became prime minister, which made him a more attractive candidate among LDP leaders who sought better relations with China and Korea leader. Tanigaki is affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, which advocates visits of Prime Ministers to the controversial shrine.
On 24 September 2007, Tanigaki was named chief policymaker of the LDP by newly elected party president Yasuo Fukuda.[2] He was subsequently appointed as minister of construction and transport on 1 August 2008.[3]
On September 28, 2009, he was elected by his party as LDP leader to replace former prime minister Tarō Asō after the Democratic Party of Japan achieved a landslide election result in the 2009 general election and took government from the LDP.[4]
In the early period of the Democratic Party of Japan government, Tanigaki frequently condemned the DPJ for advocating for a rise in the sales taxes by 5 percent, in spite of the enormous, problematic national deficit,[5] and despite his own past calls to increase the tax.[6][7]
To gain a potential legislative LDP-coalition majority, he attempted an unsuccessful no-confidence motion against Naoto Kan in June 2011,[8] after refusing Kan's earlier offers of a grand coalition.[9]
In 2012, the LDP under Tanigaki worked with prime minister Yoshihiko Noda of the ruling DPJ to pass an increase in the consumption tax from the current 5% to 8% in April 2014 and 10% in October 2015.[10] He agreed not to introduce a no-confidence motion or a censure motion against Noda, in return for Noda's promise to hold elections "soon."[11]
On 28 August 2012, soon after the consumption tax bills were passed through the diet a censure motion was passed by the LDP and the New Komeito Party against Prime Minister Noda. The opposition parties were to boycott debate in the chamber, meaning that any new bills passed in the DPJ-controlled House of Representatives cannot be enacted.[12]
Tanigaki had expected to be re-elected as LDP head unopposed in 2012, but former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and several others suggested that they could run against him.[13] He lost the party election to Abe on 26 September 2012.[14]
References
- ↑ Japan Times, "Fukuda's new lineup", 3 August 2008.
- ↑ "Fukuda appoints Ibuki as secretary-general, Tanigaki as policy chief", mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp, 24 September 2007.
- ↑ "Fukuda overhauls Cabinet/LDP executive shakeup also elevates Aso to party No. 2", yomiuri.co.jp, 2 August 2008.
- ↑ Opposition LDP picks Tanigaki as new leader as it tackles renewal Kyodo News, 28 September 2009
- ↑ "Tanigaki: DPJ ripped us off LDP chief accuses ruling party of stealing idea to double sales tax", japantimes.co.jp, 19 June 2010; retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ↑ "Hiking consumption tax 'unavoidable', Tanigaki says", 14 October 2005; retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ↑ "Tanigaki pitches 8% sales tax by '11", japantimes.co.jp, 4 August 2006; retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ↑ BBC "Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan survives challenge", bbc.co.uk, 2 June 2011; retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ↑ "LDP resists 'grand coalition'/Party willing to help with disaster efforts--but not within Cabinet", yomiuri.co.jp, 21 March 2011; retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ↑ Forbes magazine Japan Confronts Fiscal Reality: Consumption Tax Hike Agreed 9 June 2012 Retrieved on August 15, 2012
- ↑ "Loophole Could Thwart Japan Sales-Tax Rise", wsj.com, 14 August 2012; retrieved 15 August 2012
- ↑ "Japan's Prime Minister Hit With Censure Motion", wsj.com, 29 August 2012; retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ↑ Profile, yomiuri.co.jp, 29 August 2012; retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ↑ Asahi Shimbun "Former PM Abe returns to lead LDP, angers S. Koreans", 26 September 2012; retrieved 26 September 2012.
House of Representatives of Japan | ||
---|---|---|
New constituency | Member of the House of Representatives for Kyoto 5th district 1996–present |
Incumbent |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Jin Murai |
Chair of the National Public Safety Commission 2002–2003 |
Succeeded by Kiyoko Ono |
New office | Minister of State for Food Safety 2002–2003 | |
Minister of State for Industrial Revitalisation 2002–2003 |
Succeeded by Kazuyoshi Kaneko | |
Preceded by Masajuro Shiokawa |
Minister of Finance 2003–2006 |
Succeeded by Koji Omi |
Preceded by Tetsuzo Fuyushiba |
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan 2008 |
Succeeded by Nariaki Nakayama |
Preceded by Makoto Taki |
Minister of Justice 2012–2014 |
Succeeded by Midori Matsushima |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by Nobuteru Ishihara |
Chairperson of the Policy Affairs Research Council of the Liberal Democratic Party 2007–2008 |
Succeeded by Kosuke Hori |
Preceded by Tarō Asō |
Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party 2009–2012 |
Succeeded by Shinzō Abe |
Preceded by Shigeru Ishiba |
Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party 2014–2016 |
Succeeded by Toshihiro Nikai |