Race to succeed Japan PM Kishida goes down to the wire between Ishiba and Takaichi

TOKYO: The fight to replace Fumio Kishida as leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and hence Prime Minister, is down to the wire with two finalists: former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, 67,(pic left) and economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 63 (pic right).

They came out ahead in a crowded field of nine candidates, with 736 votes at stake in the Sept 27 election, edging out a third frontrunner, former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43.

A same-day run-off contest will be held, given that no one scored an outright majority in a high-stakes election that the LDP is marketing as “The Match”.

The party election rules for the first round are such that the LDP’s 368 lawmakers each cast a vote, with the other half proportionally allocated among 1.1 million rank-and-file members across 47 prefectural chapters.

In the run-off, each of the 368 parliamentarians and 47 prefectural chapters have one ballot, for a total of 415 votes.

Results for the run-off contest are due at around 3.30pm (2.30pm Singapore time).

Earlier on Sept 27, Kishida entered the LDP assembly hall to polite applause. He will resign as PM on Oct 1, paving the way for his crowned successor to be officially sworn in at the Diet on the same day.

The LDP wants to turn a new page through this leadership election, with change and reform the buzzwords, as it seeks to regain public trust in the wake of high-profile scandals that had been going on for decades only to erupt under Mr Kishida’s watch.

First came revelations of the LDP’s cosy ties with the controversial Unification Church that has been branded as a cult in some countries, then a massive slush fund scandal that implicated nearly one in five LDP lawmakers.

These improprieties tanked Kishida’s support and reinforced the LDP’s image as a party with vested interests.

The winner will have to clean up the party image, bridge divisions that have surfaced in the hustings and regain public trust, whilst steering Japan through intensifying geopolitical tensions and growing public disaffection over such issues as the rising costs of living and a lack of gender equality.

And then there are imminent national elections, as the winner seeks to earn a strong public mandate.

A snap election for the Lower House is likely to be held within 2024 – well ahead of the expiry of lawmaker terms in October 2025 – while the fixed-term Upper House must go to a vote in July 2025.

A strong showing for the LDP at both elections can well set the stage for constitutional revision.

The party regards it as an urgent task to write the military Self-Defence Forces into the war-renouncing Article 9 of the United States-drafted supreme law, which has not been revised since its enactment in 1947.

The new PM will face off against a new Leader of the Opposition. On Sept 23, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan elected as its leader the centrist former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, 67.

The LDP’s junior coalition partner, Komeito, will also have a fresh face in charge. Secretary-general Keiichi Ishii, 66, will succeed Natsuo Yamaguchi as party chief on Sept 28, with the latter stepping down after 15 years at the helm. - The Straits Times/ANN