32 Friday March 18 2022 | the times
Wo r l d
Princess Aiko, the only child of
Emperor Naruhito, has said that taking
part in rituals as an adult member of
Japan’s imperial family remains “rather
tense”, and marriage is still far in the
future.
The family became the centre of
global attention last year when Aiko’s
cousin Mako, 30, defied the family to
marry her college boyfriend Kei Komu-
ro, also 30, a commoner who works in a
New York law office.
She was forced to renounce her titles
in line with imperial rules, and was di-
agnosed with post-traumatic stress dis-
order because of the drama surround-
ing her engagement.
Manifesto pledges
6 Full employment in five years.
Tighter conditions on benefits and
retirement age of 65, up from 62.
6 €30 billion investment in high-
growth sectors. €25 billion for
research over ten years.
6 An annual reduction of
€15 billion in taxes.
6 Commitment to renewables.
Energy groups to be nationalised.
6 Defence budget up from
€41 billion to €50 billion by 2025.
National military reserve to double
in size.
6 Schools to get freedom to run
themselves. More pay for teachers.It’s rather tense being royal, says Japan’s princess
Aiko, who became a full-fledged
adult royal upon turning 20 in Decem-
ber, said in her debut news conference
yesterday that she was mainly focusing
on her studies and that the reality of
being an adult royal was still sinking in.
“For the first time I’ve taken part in a
number of palace rituals, and I was
rather tense. It seemed strange that I
was being part of things that only my
parents had done up to now.”
Asked about her plans and views on
marriage, Aiko said she had just fin-
ished her second year at university,
studying Japanese literature, and
would see what the future brought.
“For me, marriage still seems far in
the future and I haven’t really thought
of it. I have no particular thought of my
ideal partner, but being with somebodyand we can make each other smile
seems perfect.”
Aiko, who wore a pastel yellow suit
and pearl necklace, avoided com-
ment about her cousin’s marriage.
Instead, she described being
raised “peacefully” and gave un-
usual glimpses of palace life, in-
cluding jogging around the
grounds with her father and a
time she and her parents tried to
sit together on a surfboard at the
beach and tumbled into the water.
“I’ve been mostly raised
without worries, so I tend
to do things at my
own pace,” the prin-cess said. “From childhood, I’ve been a
little shy, so I’ll try hard from now on to
conquer this.”
Women cannot inherit the
Japanese throne and royal life
is circumscribed. Aiko’s
mother, Empress Masako,
58, gave up a life as a diplo-
mat and has struggled for
years with what the palace
terms an “adjustment disor-
der”. The princess expressed
her “heartfelt gratitude” to
all who had supported
her as she grew up
and said she
would “value
each and
every one of
my duties.”Japan
Gavin Blair To k y o
Aiko gives her first
news conferenceA university professor in Barcelona
says she has been boycotted by her stu-
dents as a transphobe after expressing
concerns about trans rights.
Juana Gallego, who teaches a jour-
nalism master’s course at the Autono-
mous University of Barcelona, said she
was told that the 20 or so women who
were signed up for her class on gender
and communication due to start on
Tuesday had decided not to attend
because of views she has expressed in
the media about trans rights.
“Before attending a class, seeing
what I was going to say or even getting
to know me, the students have decided
to boycott because I’m a transphobe,”Academic is
Spain
Charlie Devereux MadridPresident Macron promised yesterday
to make France a more independent
nation with better education and
defence, lower taxes and an end to
unemployment within five years if he is
re-elected next month.
Setting out his manifesto just over
three weeks before the first round of
voting, Macron, 44, also showed he had
listened to criticism of his top-down
leadership and promised more consul-
tation with citizens, teachers, unions
and other bodies.
Having been the frontrunner in the
polls for months, with the war in
Ukraine boosting his position, the
centrist president was eager to deflect
accusations that he is not bothering to
campaign as he laid out his second-
term programme during a three-hour
news conference in Aubervilliers, a
suburb on the edge of central Paris.
He said that the need for French and
European sovereignty and self-suffi-
ciency had been highlighted by the
crises that have marked his five-year
presidency, from the pandemic and
climate change to the “return of trage-
dy to history” with the Russian invasion.
“We are at a tipping point where we can
make a real difference,” he added.
Macron said he would “make France
a more independent nation” by cutting
dependence on foreign energy and
fossil fuels. He planned to double the
size of the military’s reserve while the
state would take control of certain
energy companies. That implied that
the government would fully nationalise
EDF, the electricity giant that is about
to build up to 14 nuclear reactors.
Education would be a priority, with
plans to free schools from the com-
mand of the centralised education min-
istry, pay teachers more and involve
parents in school decision-making.
Macron contrasted his positive out-
look with the conservative and right-
wing candidates — Valérie Pécresse,
Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour —
who he said were offering only “retreat,
a return to nostalgia... for a time that
never existed”.
Polls this month have shown him
increasing his lead, with 30 per cent ofMacron sets out his
vision for a more
independent France
voting intentions for the April 10 first
round, compared with 18 per cent for
Le Pen, leader of the National Rally,
and 12 per cent for Zemmour, an anti-
American, anti-Islam polemicist, level
with Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the radi-
cal left France Unbowed.
Pécresse, candidate for the main-
stream conservative Republicans, has
dropped back to about 11 per cent.
Macron confirmed that he would put
pension reform back on the agenda
after it was shelved following fierce
public sector resistance, and would
progressively raise the retirement age
to 65 from 62 while making exceptions
for certain professions.
He promised €15 billion in tax cuts to
help to bring unemployment down to a
level that amounts to full employment.
“I promised [in 2017] to reduce unem-
ployment and despite the crises we did
it,” he said. “The rate of unemployment
is at its lowest level for 15 years. The
youth unemployment rate is at its
lowest level for 40 years. None of these
results can be considered enough,” he
said. Unemployment is at 8 per cent.
“We have to work more.”
Responding to unhappiness with
what critics see as his haughty, secre-
tive command from the Élysée, Macron
said that he would associate “our
compatriots” in implementing his new
manifesto, making them “real actors” in
shaping the nation. “I have not made
decisions alone,” he said, adding that he
had always acted after consultation
with the cabinet and advisers.
Macron’s opponents have begun
questioning his legitimacy as president
if he wins a second term “by default”
without engaging in real debate with
the other contenders. “The president
wants to be re-elected without ever
really having been a candidate, without
a debate,” Gérard Larcher, president of
the senate, said: “If there isn’t a cam-
paign, then there will be questions
about the legitimacy of the winner.”France
Charles Bremner Paris
Tickled pink James and Charlotte Maddock at Hutt Lagoon in Yallabatharra,President Macron has faced criticism
for refusing to take part in TV debates