Who after Kishida as Japan PM? Race intensifies as ruling LDF unveils 9 names

After Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called quits, the country’s ruling party leadership race has formally kicked off with nine candidates running. The race became wide open after elders in the Liberal Democratic Party retreated from the race.

The contest for the presidency in the party which will take place on September 27 will see a record number of candidates. According to The Japan Times, two of the candidates who are in the running for the post are under the age of 50 and two of them are women.

The winner of the contest is almost certain to be voted as Japan’s Prime Minister because the LDP holds a solid majority in the country’s parliament. While the public does not have any say in either of the elections, opinion polls indicated that Shigeru Ishiba, a 67-year-old former defence minister, and 43-year-old Shinjiro Koizumi, the youngest candidate and son of a former prime minister, are the most popular candidates in the race.

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The change in PM post comes at a significant time

It is pertinent to note that the change in the country’s leadership is coming at a time when inflation is re-emerging. Japan is also in the midst of taking a more active stance on regional security. All of the candidates are now pledging to defeat deflation and raise incomes.

They also vowed to boost consumption and reinvigorate economic growth. However, they differ in regard to the degree of government spending and structural reform needed to achieve these goals.

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The party will be seeing an open voting since a slush fund scandal that began in 2023 and rocked the party’s top brass. The scandal deals with the revelation of secret payments made to lawmakers who were part of factions – groups aligned by policy views – led to all but one of the factions being dissolved.

The scandal eventually contributed to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision to not seek another three-year term as the party leader. The Japanese premier was also witnessing low opinion poll ratings.

The unravelling of factions within the party has also allowed for a more diverse range of candidates to come forward, including lawmakers with less experience. Experts also believe that the decline of the factional power will also help the winner of the election to have a free hand in deciding cabinet position. Traditionally cabinet portfolios have been allocated to factions that cooperated with the winner in LDP elections. Hence, it will be interesting to see who will win in the upcoming polls.

With inputs from agencies.