After the assassination of Shinzo Abe, François Hollande says to himself “shocked” by the conditions of the death of the former Japanese Prime Minister. “We must bring down this level of violence”believes the former French president who also salutes a politician who was a “symbol”.
>> Death of Shinzo Abe: Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson … World leaders pay tribute to the former Prime Minister of Japan
franceinfo: Were you shocked by the conditions of the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?
Francois Hollande : Yes. Not only because I knew him, he was Prime Minister when I was President, but also because he was assassinated by an individual whose motives we do not know. It’s quite staggering when a former leader who no doubt aspired to return to the responsibilities of his country is shot down in this way, in a country which is not known for its violence, where weapons do not circulate. That is to say, if we are in a global context where relations are degenerating, where for reasons, either of terrorism, or linked to human madness or I don’t know what settling of scores, attacks are made on personalities who play a major role in their country. Shinzo Abe was a symbol. He was for a policy where Japan had to defend its own security, he was still very active in recent months in relation to what is happening in Ukraine.
“I can only be shocked, shocked by the death of a partner who was close to France.”
Francois Hollandeat franceinfo
Shocked by the conditions of his assassination, that is to say an individual who killed with a homemade weapon a leader who was in the middle of a meeting, that is to say a symbol at a time when democracy should prevail and also shocked because we have been in a period for several years now where violence is becoming more and more important.
You worked with him for five years, what type of leader was he?
In Japan, leaders rarely put themselves forward. They only exceptionally reveal their private or personal life or their tastes. Shinzo Abe assumed power, he had modes of communication quite close to what one could find in the great democracies, that is to say by not hesitating to put his family and his wife in the first row, taking positions, confronting difficult situations, both with China and with Russia, and aspiring to see Japan play a role in the defense of its territory. He was a determined man. We could not agree on everything, he was rather liberal. But he had, particularly on questions of growth, positions quite close to ours and he was useful to us when the financial crisis continued to fuel a recession and austerity to make growth policies prevail. He was also close to France because he loved its culture, French gastronomy. I believe he loved France and France is losing one of its partners of recent years, perhaps a leader who would have returned to power in a few years.
Would you say he put Japan back on the international stage?
Yes, because he took responsibility for Japan after a long period of instability, badly assumed alternation and decline of Japan’s economy, so he wanted Japan to regain authority in the region against China, that there is a clearly assumed economic policy to restart growth and give Japan more market share in the world and to make the choice of technology. At the same time, he understood that the economy was not enough, that security was major but that other elements had to be added, culture and influence in particular. When he had received the G7, he had tried to show that Japan was a great tourist destination and that France was a destination particularly popular with Japanese people. We had established a relationship of trust and partnership. At the economic level, Renault-Nissan also counted in our personal relationships.
You mention this new symptom of violence in our societies. Are there any solutions to try to solve this problem and does it worry you?
It is worrying because we have known terrorist periods, France was particularly exposed. We have known periods of political and social violence and we have also come to know political personalities who are beaten, assassinated or targeted. A few years ago, a British MP was shot dead during the Brexit campaign and there is a former head of government who was murdered.
“The violence is there, exacerbated by a number of factors and social networks can play this role when they are manipulated, instrumentalized.”
Francois Hollandeat franceinfo
We must bring down this level of violence, be extremely vigilant in relation to individuals who are not necessarily spotted but who are preparing attacks, we see it again with an individual who coldly kills a politician with a homemade weapon. So we must be vigilant and also act on the very roots of this violence which finds its place in democracies through the phenomena of conspiracy, extremism and madness which are used by some.