FILE PHOTO: Newly-elected leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi, right, stands with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center right, and other leadership candidates, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, center left, and Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, left,after winning the LDP leadership election in Tokyo, Japan, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. - Pool Photo via AP
TOKYO: Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, is planning to appoint Shinjiro Koizumi, now serving as agriculture minister, as head of the Defence Ministry if she is elected prime minister at the upcoming extraordinary Diet session, according to party sources.
Koizumi, 44, has been elected six times to the House of Representatives and represents Kanagawa Constituency No. 11.
Takaichi also intends to appoint Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, as head of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, according to the sources. Hayashi, previously elected to the House of Councillors five times, is now in his second term representing Yamaguchi Constituency No. 3 in the lower house.
Former Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, 70, an 11-term veteran representing Tochigi Constituency No. 5 in the lower house, is expected to be appointed foreign minister.
All three men ran in the party presidential election on Oct. 4, with Koizumi finishing second, Hayashi third and Motegi fifth.
Takayuki Kobayashi, a former economic security minister who placed fourth in the leadership race, has been appointed chair of the LDP’s Policy Research Council.
By placing all the candidates in the race in key positions, Takaichi appears to be making an attempt at party unity.
While the extraordinary Diet session is set to choose a new prime minister, the LDP only holds 196 seats in the lower house, falling short of a majority, or 233 seats. If there is sufficient cooperation among opposition parties, including the Komeito, which has ended its coalition with the LDP, a prime minister could be elected from an opposition party. - The Japan News/ANN
