Koichi Kato (LDP)

Koichi Katō (Japanese加藤 纮 一, Katō Koichi; born June 17, 1939 in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture) is a Japanese politician, former Shūgiin deputy of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) and former minister and secretary general of the LDP. Within the party, he no longer belonged to a faction since 2005.

Biography

Katō is the fifth-oldest son of Shūgiin deputies and LDP functionary Katō Seizo. He studied at the University of Tokyo and officials was then at the Foreign Ministry, for which he in Taipei and Washington, DC worked. In 1967, he earned a master's degree from Harvard University. After the death of his father in 1965, he stood as a candidate in the election of 1972 successfully in whose constituency includes the city of Tsuruoka (until 1993 2nd constituency Yamagata, from 1996, became fourth constituency, from 2003 3rd constituency), for the Shūgiin and entered the Ohira faction, the Kōchikai in.

Katō rose quickly in the party on, 1984, he was appointed as Head of the Defence Office first cabinet minister Nakasone, the post he held until 1986. From 1991 to 1992 he was Secretary at the Cabinet Miyazawa. After the LDP in 1993 was temporarily lost power and recovered 1994 Katō Chairman of the Policy Research Council was ( PARC ), a year later General Secretary of the party. This office he retained until 1998 and was the LDP Secretary General with the longest tenure since Tanaka Kakuei.

Finally, in 1998 sparked Katō former Prime Minister Kiichi Miayazawa in Faktionsvorsitz from who had the Kōchikai out for 12 years. Taku Yamasaki, Jun'ichirô Koizumi and he was known as YKK and were considered young generation of leaders of the LDP, wanted to modernize the party and government. 1997, 1998 ( Koizumi ) and 1999 ( Katō and Yamasaki ) she stood as a candidate in vain for the party presidency. After a stroke of Keizo Obuchi in April 2000, a consensus-based successor candidate was quickly searched and Yoshirō Mori determined as leader of the strongest faction for party chairman.

" Katō Rebellion "

Prime Minister Mori was the start of a controversial figure in the LDP. After Mori's " Land of the Gods " speech and the resulting heavy losses in the Shūgiin - election, the party urged a speedy replacement, but Mori remained in office. In November Moris approval rate reached a record low of 18%. After Katō had secured the approval of the Yamasaki faction, he decided to initiate a vote of no confidence against Mori Shūgiin that calculated by the voices of the two factions, and the voices of the opposition had a good chance of success. However, it succeeded LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka by the threat of Parteiauschschlüssen to force the majority of the members of the Kōchikai not to vote against Mori. Given the hopelessness of his advancement also Katō and most of his followers contained in the vote on 20 November, Mori remained prime minister. Result of this " Katō Rebellion " (加藤の乱, Katō no ran) was the cleavage of the Kōchikai and the discrediting of Yamasaki and Katō in the party, who had even threatened to cooperate with the opposition DPJ. The remaining YKK politicians, Koizumi, Mori took over from as party leader and prime minister in April 2001.

Resignation and comeback

After a tax evasion scandal involving Kato's secretary in early 2002 Katō was first on the Faktionsvorsitz, then his party membership, and finally his seat. In the election in November 2003, he ran as an independent and was re-elected. He then returned to the LDP and initially (until September 2005) back again into Kōchikai. He called for a reform of its former allies criticized Koizumi and his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine and the Iraq deployment of Self-Defense Forces.

After Kato's house had been set on fire in August 2006 by a right-wing nationalist activists, he warned that Japan could be captured by a dangerous wave of nationalism. The traded as Koizumi 's successor, Shinzo Abe, he referred in this regard as " too naive ".

In 2012 Shūgiin election he lost the third constituency Yamagata with almost 1,500 residue to the independent Juichi Abe and was voted out after 13 election victories in a row.