Former defense chief Shigeru Ishiba and economic security minister Sanae Takaichi are set to face off Friday in a runoff vote in Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election after no candidate received a majority in the first round.
Ishiba, 67, and Takaichi, 63, emerged as the top picks in a crowded field of nine in the race that will decide the country’s next prime minister, but fell short of the votes needed to secure an outright win.
Ishiba garnered 154 votes and Takaichi 181 votes.
In the final days of a campaign that began Sept. 12, Ishiba, Takaichi, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi had maintained a clear lead over other rivals, garnering significant support from both the 368 LDP parliamentarians as well as the 368 votes proportionally assigned to rank-and-file party members.
In the runoff election to decide the winner, the finalists will need a lot of parliamentary support because, while the 368 parliamentarians will again cast ballots, the 47 prefectural chapters will get only one vote each. The two remaining candidates had spent the past few days seeking support among fellow lawmakers for both the initial round and the deciding runoff election.
Friday’s election was taking place without those running being able to rely on factional leaders to deliver block votes for their favored candidate, as in the past. Following a political funds scandal earlier this year, most of the official factions, including the one that had been led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well as those that were led by former Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, Motegi and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, were dissolved.
Only LDP Vice President Taro Aso’s 54-member faction, which was not implicated in the scandal, remains. Aso has emerged as a key behind-the-scenes player in this election, along with Kishida and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Their influence among party members helped deliver the needed votes for the two candidates to advance to the runoff vote, and could help lead to one’s victory.
Aso had backed digital minister Taro Kono, who belongs to his faction in the initial round but indicated he would support Takaichi if she made it to the deciding round. But he told its members they weren't bound by that decision. Kishida did not publicly endorse anyone, though he reportedly had planned to cast his vote for Hayashi, a key member of his former faction. Suga, who is disliked by Aso in particular, backed Koizumi.
The race had seen the candidates' positions differ on a number of issues, especially on deregulation of the labor market, the future role of nuclear power, and separate surnames for married couples.
A statement by Koizumi about the need for labor market deregulation was harshly criticized by the other candidates, and he was forced to downplay his remarks. Most of the candidates, including Koizumi and Takaichi, said they are in favor of staying with Kishida’s plan to use more nuclear power and replace old plants with new ones. Ishiba, on the other hand, favors gradually reducing the nation’s reliance on the power source and increasing the use of other sources like geothermal energy.
Koizumi and Ishiba voiced support for changing the law to allow separate surnames for married couples, while Takaichi said she is opposed.
Once the presidential election winner is decided, he or she will be elected prime minister by the LDP-controlled Diet, Japan's parliament, when it convenes on Tuesday, and then a new Cabinet and party leadership will be formed with an eye toward passing a supplementary budget.
For much of the election campaign, the other six candidates — LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, 68, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, 71, digital minister Taro Kono, 61, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, 68, and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49 — had failed to make headway against the three front-runners.
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