The legacy of Shinzo Abe
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 July 2022
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Japan has been in mourning after the assassination of former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, at an election rally in the Western city of Nara. Mr Abe was a towering figure in Japanese politics. He was known for his efforts to bring Japan out of years of economic stagnation. Yet it was his firm belief that Japan should move away from its pacifist past that proved most divisive. Rupert Wingfield Hayes reflects his legacy.
In Ethiopia, the federal government has been in armed conflict with rebel authorities in the northern region of Tigray since November 2020. Tens of thousands of people have been killed. A state of emergency was imposed between last November and in February this year, and the country’s human rights watch dog said the period was marked by a significant number of arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions. The Ethiopian government is now saying it plans to negotiate with forces from the Tigray region, but a culture of impunity prevails, says Kalkidan Yibeltal.
We visit a mosque and a church in Norway to hear how an agreement between Christian and Muslim leaders, recognising the right to convert between faiths, has affected the respective communities. Maddy Savage is in Oslo.
Jamaica has this year set the process in motion to remove the Queen as head of state and become a Republic. Adina Campbell recently visited the country and found the issue was the subject of fervent discussion wherever she went.
The Shandur Polo Festival in north-west Pakistan is held each July. The event draws enthusiastic crowds from all the surrounding regions, willing to brave the nerve-wracking journey to the highest polo ground in the world, says Hannah McCarthy.
Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts |
| 0:05.0 | Today we're in Ethiopia where incidents of extreme violence have become a part of everyday |
| 0:10.7 | life, often meted out by the authorities themselves. We're in Oslo, first at a church |
| 0:17.4 | and then a mosque, to hear how Muslims and Christians are handling the potentially thorny |
| 0:22.7 | issue of conversion to another faith. Amid the hustle and bustle of market stalls in |
| 0:28.8 | Jamaica, we hear what the locals make of plans to remove the queen as head of state and |
| 0:34.6 | turn the country into a republic. And we watch a polo match with a difference, high up |
| 0:41.1 | on a mountain pass in northwestern Pakistan, and something of a tricky spot to reach. |
| 0:48.2 | First, huge crowds lined the streets of Tokyo this week as Japan mourned the country's |
| 0:54.0 | longest-serving post-war Prime Minister. Shinzo Arbe was shot dead at an election rally |
| 1:00.4 | in the western city of Nara, a shocking act of violence in a nation with some of the |
| 1:05.6 | world's strictest gun laws. Mr. Arbe was a towering figure in Japanese politics, who |
| 1:12.2 | continued to be a major influence in the governing LDP party after his premiership. He was |
| 1:18.3 | known for his efforts to bring Japan out of years of economic stagnation and help bring |
| 1:23.9 | more women into the workforce. Policies, which critics said, had limited effect, yet it |
| 1:30.2 | was his firm belief that Japan should move away from its pacifist past the prove most |
| 1:36.2 | divisive. Robert Wingfield Hayes reflects on Mr. Arbe's legacy. |
| 1:42.6 | When a prominent politician is murdered in a horrifying and public way, it is perhaps |
| 1:47.6 | the natural response to glorify the fallen hero. That's certainly how it's felt in |
| 1:52.9 | Japan this week following the shooting of Shinzo Arbe. He has been eulogized from Tokyo |
| 1:58.6 | to Washington, Canberra to New Delhi. And not without reason, Mr. Arbe had many fans. At |
| 2:05.1 | home he was loved by nationalists in America as a staunch ally in India as a pan-asianist. |
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