Tokyo, Sep 22
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officially launched its leadership election campaign on Monday, with five candidates filing their candidacies.
The contenders are Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, former Economic Security Ministers Takayuki Kobayashi and Sanae Takaichi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, and former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi.
All five also ran in last year's election, which saw a record nine candidates, reports Xinhua news agency.
The contest will focus on issues such as cooperation with opposition parties, economic measures to tackle rising prices, and rebuilding the party after successive election defeats and political funding scandals.
Candidacy registration began at 10 a.m. local time at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo, where each candidate's representative submitted the required list of 20 recommending lawmakers.
The candidates will deliver their speeches on Monday afternoon at party headquarters, marking the official start of full-scale debate.
This year, over 910,000 party members will take part in voting, the national broadcaster NHK reported.
A total of 590 ballots will be cast, split evenly between Diet member votes (295) and party member votes (295). Ballots from party members will be finalised the day before lawmakers vote on October 4, after which both sets will be counted together to decide the new party leader.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced earlier this month that he will step down as the LDP head, triggering an early leadership contest within the party.
Once a new LDP president is chosen, the parliament will hold a prime ministerial designation vote.
Even though the ruling bloc has failed to secure a majority in both chambers of the parliament, the new LDP leader is highly likely to become the country's next prime minister since the LDP remains the largest party, analysts said.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Japan has been a reliable partner for India. Whoever wins should continue strengthening economic cooperation and countering Chinese influence in the region. The QUAD partnership is crucial!
910,000 party members voting? That's impressive participation for an internal election. Our Indian parties could learn from such transparent processes instead of backroom decisions.
Hope the new leadership continues Japan's investment in Indian infrastructure projects. The bullet train project and Delhi-Mumbai corridor need stable Japanese partnership 🇮🇳🇯🇵
Political funding scandals mentioned here - sounds familiar unfortunately. Hope they clean up their system better than we've managed in Indian politics. Transparency should be global priority.
Japan's leadership change comes at critical time for Asia-Pacific security. India needs a strong Japan to balance China's growing assertiveness. Hope the new PM understands India's strategic importance.
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