ANKARA Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is set to hold its leadership election on Friday to select a successor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Kishida, whose three-year term ends this month, has already confirmed that he will not seek reelection, paving the way for a new party leader. The incumbent premier, who has been in office since October 2021, will step down amid a political funds scandal and controversy over the Unification Church’s connections to ruling lawmakers.
Despite his efforts to reform the party, including disbanding factions, Kishida’s approval rating has plummeted to as low as 20%. A record nine candidates, including two women, are in the race to succeed Kishida as prime minister as both houses of parliament are controlled by the LDP and its coalition partner, the Komeito party. A runoff vote will be held the same day between the top two candidates if no candidate wins an outright majority of the 734 votes -- 367 from LDP lawmakers and 367 from rank-and-file members.
In the runoff, lawmakers will again cast 367 votes, while the rank-and-file will contribute 47 votes, one allocated to each of Japan's 47 prefectures. Who is who in the race As the contenders revealed their visions for the world’s fourth largest economy, party renewal is a common pledge, aside from efforts to mitigate an escalating cost-of-living crisis and cope with security threats in the face of China and North Korea. Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Foreign Minis.
