With speculation continuing that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may make changes to his Cabinet or the ruling party leadership, or even call a snap election in the months ahead, powerful LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi is attempting to raise his profile overseas for what could be a challenge to Kishida’s leadership.
But while Motegi — who leads the LDP’s third largest faction with 54 members — is an experienced veteran politician, a graduate of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and is seen as an internationalist, few people in Japan view him as a favorable choice for prime minister. Whether he can gain the intraparty support necessary for a successful bid for the prime minister’s seat also depends on how well he handles his current job as Kishida’s secretary-general.
Over the Golden Week holidays last week, Motegi visited Washington, Cuba and Mexico. While in the U.S., he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also met with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana.