Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is drawing attention from within the ruling party as to whether he will pick female lawmakers considered to be candidates for a possible future prime minister in key personnel appointments expected for September.
Among such female lawmakers in the Liberal Democratic Party are Yuko Obuchi, 49, head of the Party Organization and Campaign Headquarters, and Yoko Kamikawa, 70, acting LDP secretary-general. Kishida is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet and the LDP executive team in September.
Hopes are high for Obuchi, whose father was former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, to obtain a position such as one of the LDP's three key executive posts — secretary-general, head of the General Council and chief of the Policy Research Council.