Yumiko Nagatsuki
Yumiko Nagatsuki | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of Akashi | |
| In office 1 December 1977 – 10 January 1979 | |
| President | Yurika Ehara |
| Preceded by | Naoko Nemoto |
| Succeeded by | Hikaru Katayama |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 June 1926 Mikasa, Kagi, Akashi |
| Nationality | Akashian |
| Political party | Socialist Party |
| Occupation | Politician |
Yumiko Nagatsuki (Miranian: 優美子 長月; Gothic: 𐌾𐌿𐌼𐌹ᚴ𐍉 𐌽𐌰𐌲𐌰𐍄𐍃𐌿ᚴ𐌹; born 2 June 1926), commonly known as Yuna, is an Akashian politician. She served as Prime Minister of Akashi from 1977 to 1979. Her government struggled with the ongoing "siege economy", which ultimately led to her downfall.
Early life
Yumiko was born on 2 June 1926 in Mikasa. She came from a working-class family and had a younger brother.
The family took refuge in Acrea during the Akashian Civil War. She later attended university in Mikasa, and joined the Socialist Party after graduating.
Political career
She worked in the SP's local koenkai. She entered local politics, being elected to the Mikasa prefectural assembly in 1961, and subsequently won re-election in 1963, 1965, 1967, and 1969.
She ran in a local constituency for the 1970 general election, but fell short of the quota. On her next attempt in 1972, she chose to be placed on the party list instead, and thus entered the National Assembly.
She remained a backbencher during the tenures of Tarō Yukimura and Kasumi Kuroki. When Kasuko resigned on 9 October 1977, Yuna entered the leadership election, and won a narrow victory.
Prime Minister of Akashi
Yuna became Prime Minister of Akashi on 1 December 1977. She reorganised the left coalition, formally including the Justice Party (which had split from the SP over the "black budget", and reached out to the new Green Party. She retained finance minister Naoko Nemoto, who had also served as interim Prime Minister during the SP leadership election.
Yuna's first electoral test was the 1978 general election, where the SP retained its plurality with a loss of 10 seats, but the government fell narrowly short of a majority, with 96 seats out of 200.
Economy
Yuna was a member of the SP's moderate faction, and was uncomfortable with Kasuko's uncompromising radicalism. She sought to present herself as a more attentive and pragmatic stateswoman, and had campaigned on using more conventional policies to combat the "siege economy".
Yuna's concern with the growing national debt and continued economic stagnation caused a rift with Naoko, who preferred Kasuko's decisiveness and regarded Yuna's wish to retreat somewhat from the harsh measures of the "black budget" as weakness.
She negotiated an agreement with the Sōhyō to pass tax cuts in exchange for wage restraint. Yuna hoped that the tax cuts would help stimulate private consumption. When the accord was weakened by continued wildcat strikes, she implemented an incomes policy to control wages and prices. This managed to reduce inflation somewhat, at the cost of destabilising Akashi's balance of payments. It also poisoned relations with Naoko, who denounced the incomes policy as heavy-handed, and feared that it would unravel the balancing act her mini-budgets had maintained and erode Akashians' patience.
The economy largely remained moribund during Yuna's term, with growth rates of 0,4% (1977) and 0,1% (1978). Unemployment remained static, while inflation mildly declined.
Parliamentary dynamics
Yuna's desire to chart a more moderate course was further complicated by the 1978 general election. Leading a minority government, she had two main options: to seek support from the independents or the crimson bloc.
Communist Party leader Seiji Okada noticed Yuna's weak position, and maintained strong discipline within the crimson bloc, trying to keep a united front with the Green Party and Social Credit Party to maximise leverage.
The strain of the economic crisis and tough parliamentary negotiations took a toll on Yuna's health.
Resignation
Yuna resigned on 10 January 1979 after a parliamentary defeat. She thought she had secured independent support for a motion favoured by her government, but half the independents defected to the opposition on the final vote, causing a loss of 99–101.
She was succeeded as Prime Minister by her agriculture minister Hikaru Katayama.
Later life
Yuna served out the remainder of her parliamentary term, and retired at the 1980 snap election. After stepping down, she went on a long trip with her family to Akashi's onsen, which helped her regain her health.
She maintained a low profile in retirement, avoiding media appearances.
Private life
She was married, until her husband's death in 2017, with two children. She became a great-grandmother in 2020.