Finance
Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s former Economic Security Minister, was chosen leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a poll Saturday. She is scheduled to become Japan’s first female Prime Minister on October 15.
Takaichi won 185 votes, while Koizumi received 156 in a runoff election after none of the five contenders for party leadership secured a majority in the first round of voting, according to local media sources.
Takaichi led the first round of the election with 183 votes, including 64 from party MPs and 119 from rank-and-file members. Koizumi was close behind with 164 votes, comprising of 80 from party parliamentarians and 84 from rank-and-file members, the country’s leading newspaper, The Japan Times, reported.
LDP lawmakers began voting for a new leader earlier in the day, with five candidates vying for the position of party president and, essentially, the country’s future prime minister.
Former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, and Takayuki Kobayashi were among the candidates running alongside Sanae Takaichi.
All five ran in last year’s election, which included a record nine candidates.
The first round of the poll, which was sparked by LDP President Shigeru Ishiba’s retirement last month, included 590 votes: 295 from LDP MPs and 295 distributed proportionally to rank-and-file party members and registered supporters.
The contest focused on issues such as working with opposing parties, implementing economic policies to combat rising costs, and rebuilding the party following multiple election defeats and political funding scandals.
Years of slow development, rising prices, and a rapid depreciation of the yen have weighed heavily on the public, and the LDP’s twin setbacks have brought its leadership into sharper focus.
As the ruling bloc’s historical dominance fades, the task ahead is daunting: keep a divided party together, manage minority rule, and persuade a skeptical population that the LDP is still capable of providing stable governance.
Source: IANS
