Japan ruling party chief vote set for Sept. 27 to replace Kishida
TOKYO, Aug. 20 Kyodo - Japan's ruling party formally decided Tuesday to hold its presidential election on Sept. 27 to pick a successor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, setting the stage for a race likely featuring a plethora of current and former ministers seeking to revamp the scandal-hit Liberal Democratic Party.
Digital Minister Taro Kono, who was defeated by Kishida in the previous 2021 election, is now set to announce his candidacy next Monday, a source with knowledge of his plans, said. Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has told people close to him that he will run, according to a party source.
Kishida has announced his intention not to stay on beyond the end of his current three-year term as LDP president, which expires in September. And he urged ruling party members considering running in the forthcoming election to show the party is transforming itself, after coming under intense scrutiny due to a political fundraising scandal involving some key factions and ties with the controversial Unification Church.
"The election will be an opportunity for us to show a reformed LDP," the 67-year-old prime minister was quoted by a senior lawmaker as saying at a party meeting.
The winner of the LDP leadership election is almost certain to be elected the next prime minister in Diet as the party controls the House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of parliament.
The LDP on Tuesday decided on a 15-day campaign period, the longest under current party rules, which were revised in 1995. That is three days longer than that for the 2021 race when Kishida beat Kono, 61, in a runoff vote.
The extension will give the some 11 lawmakers who are currently expected to join the race more time to showcase their policy visions and the LDP more media coverage. The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is holding its own presidential election around the same time, with campaigning due to begin on Sept. 7 and voting on Sept. 23.
Since his abrupt announcement last week to not seek reelection, Kishida has been encouraging whoever is willing to step forward and compete in the election to do so. It has apparently opened the door to those in the Cabinet, who would otherwise have refrained from presidential bids, to consider running.
"What is most important is to make sure we do politics that can resonate with the people," Kishida said, calling for party unity under the next leader.
On Monday, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi became the first to announce his presidential bid, with a pledge to break free of the LDP's intraparty faction dynamics.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, 67, who often appears to be the favorite to become the next LDP president in opinion polls, is also considering running after his past four attempts to take the top job at the LDP fell flat.
Sanae Takaichi, 63, who serves as minister in charge of economic security, is expected to make another bid following her defeat in 2021.
A Kyodo News poll released Monday showed Ishiba was the most favored to succeed Kishida, followed by Koizumi, the son of former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and Takaichi.
Kobayashi, 49, and Koizumi, 43 could present themselves as figures of generational change for the LDP as it looks to break from its recent troubles.
Japan's top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, 71, and industry minister Ken Saito, 65, are among prominent members of Kishida's Cabinet that are seen as likely to enter the race. Former health minister Katsunobu Kato, 68, is also a possibility.
The envisioned wide field of LDP presidential candidates also comes on the back of the disbandment of many intraparty factions that previously influenced how their members made decisions and voted.
Factions, including the most powerful one that was once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have decided to dissolve in the wake of the funds scandal.
Whoever wins the majority of the 734 votes -- 367 held by LDP lawmakers and another 367 by rank-and-file members -- becomes the next leader. If no decisive winner emerges, a runoff vote will be held.
==Kyodo
