The son of a former prime minister who loves surfing, an experienced defense expert, and an ardent nationalist who would be the first female prime minister of Japan will compete for the title of leader of the country on Friday.
Following the long-standing sections of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) dissolving earlier this year due to a financial scandal, a record nine candidates are in the field.
The winner will almost certainly become prime minister because the conservative LDP has a legislative majority. To support their mandate, they will probably call for an early election.
According to polls, Shigeru Ishiba, the former minister of defense, Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, whose father served as prime minister in the 2000s, and the assertive Sanae Takaichi, a rare well-known woman in Japanese politics, are tied for first place.
According to Kanda University of International Studies lecturer Jeffrey J. Hall, “this is the most unpredictable that an LDP election has been in many years,” AFP was informed.
Whoever prevails will need to counter concerns to regional security, which range from North Korea’s banned missile launches to an increasingly assertive China and its strengthening defense relations with Russia.
At home, the leader will have to revive the economy while the central bank abandons decades of quantitative easing that have caused the yen to plummet in value.
LDP presidents hold office for three years, renewable for a maximum of three terms in a row. Fumio Kishida, the unpopular prime minister, has decided not to seek reelection.
It’s improbable that any one candidate will receive enough votes from both parliamentarians and party members in the general public to win the election outright now that the factions have broken up.
Thus, the most likely outcome would be a run-off between the top two contenders, with the winner being declared on Friday afternoon.
