On Sept. 16, when announcing his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency, Takayuki Kobayashi said: "We may bill this leadership election as a fresh start, but traces of the old LDP still linger. At this rate, the party will never change. This might be the very last presidential election for the party."
Whether he was speaking about himself or the party is unclear, but he may have predicted the future.
Sohei Kamiya, leader of conservative party Sanseito, one of the biggest winners in the national election in July, seemed to echo Kobayashi in a recent interview with Japan Forward: "The LDP will never change. It is incapable of change. The party should dissolve and start over."
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