LDP Leadership Race Kicks Off with 5 Candidates

Tokyo, Sept. 22 (Jiji Press)–The campaign period for the Oct. 4 leadership election of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party kicked off Monday, with five contenders filing their candidacies. The five, in order of candidacy filing, are former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, 69, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 64, and agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 44. All five ran in last year’s party presidential election. Recent media polls suggest that Koizumi and Takaichi are leading the leadership race. At the LDP’s headquarters on the day, the candidates discussed economic measures to combat inflation and the party’s reconstruction after its bruising defeat in the July House of Councillors election. Key issues in the LDP election also include how to work with opposition parties after the LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majorities in both chambers of the Diet. In his speech, Kobayashi called for a generational change, saying, “A new generation will come forward and drive the LDP and Japan.” Motegi said: “We will surely revive the LDP and the Japanese economy. Our goal is (to achieve this in) two years, and we will hand over the baton to the next generation.” Hayashi emphasized his focus on boosting real wages in order to “restore a thick layer of the middle class in Japan.” Takaichi expressed her commitment to ensuring a “strong economy and country as well as a safe society for future generations.” Koizumi promised to “call on opposition parties to hold broad policy talks and try to reach an agreement” and to “deepen discussions on the framework of the administration while carefully assessing common ground in policies and ideologies.” In the party election, a total of 590 votes are up for grabs, with 295 coming from LDP lawmakers and another 295 from rank-and-file party members and supporters. If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of voting, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a run-off. The new LDP president’s term will last until September 2027. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]