The winner of the Liberal Democratic Party election in September will also become the next prime minister.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will elect its new leader and the country’s next prime minister in September.
The party’s announcement on Tuesday came after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida suddenly decided to resign last week amid low approval ratings and a corruption scandal within the LDP.
The internal elections must be held by the end of September, the end of Kishida’s three-year term. The party’s parliamentarians and its 1.1 million dues-paying members will participate in the elections.
The winner will be leader of the LDP and the next prime minister, as the party and its smaller coalition partner control Japan’s bicameral parliament.
The election campaign for the next LDP chairmanship will begin on September 12, with voting taking place two weeks later, a party official told AFP news agency.
LDP election committee chairman Ichiro Aisawa said the party takes the loss of public confidence resulting from the election fraud scandal very seriously and has set a campaign period of 15 days instead of the usual 12 to give voters more time to familiarize themselves with the candidates’ policies.
The dispute surrounding the LDP revolved around undeclared political donations raised through ticket sales to party events. More than 80 LDP lawmakers were affected, most of whom belonged to a large party faction previously led by assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Aisawa urged candidates to campaign as economically as possible and to “take into account public criticism regarding money and politics.”
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, was the first to announce his candidacy on Monday.
Other possible candidates include former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (43), three long-standing female party members – Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi and former Gender Equality Minister Seiko Noda – as well as former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Each candidate needs the support of 20 party politicians to participate.
Internationally, however, Kishida, 67, was praised for taking Ukraine’s side after Russia’s invasion and, with US support, developing a stronger defense policy against China.
