Five candidates vie for leadership of Japan’s ruling LDP

Earlier, Ishiba announced his resignation following the LDP-led coalition’s crushing defeat in the July 20 House of Councillors election, which saw the bloc lose its majority.

The coalition, already a minority in the House of Representatives, now faces the challenge of governing from a weakened position. With both chambers out of its control, the LDP will be forced to seek cooperation from opposition parties to pass legislation, an issue expected to dominate the leadership race.

Among the contenders is Sanae Takaichi, a 64-year-old conservative who would become Japan’s first female prime minister if elected. Seen as the ideological heir to former premier Shinzo Abe, she has pledged to pursue expansionary fiscal and monetary policies in the vein of Abenomics, adopt a more assertive foreign policy, and continue efforts to raise Japan’s international profile.

Another frontrunner is Yoshimasa Hayashi, the 64-year-old Chief Cabinet Secretary and a seasoned policymaker who has served as foreign, defense, education, and agriculture minister. Close to former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Hayashi has positioned himself as a candidate of stability and experience. He pledged to maintain wage growth that outpaces inflation and indicated openness to working with opposition forces after clarifying policy priorities, insisting that “we should not put them in the wrong order.”

Shinjiro Koizumi, the youngest candidate at 44, brings both name recognition and reformist appeal. The son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, he served as environment minister from 2019 to 2021 and has emerged as one of the most popular choices in recent opinion polls. Koizumi has focused on party unity, vowing to “carefully consider what I can do to achieve cohesion within the party,” while also stressing the need to address pressing economic issues such as rising rice prices.

Former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, called by Donald Trump as a tough negotiator, has also entered the race. The reform-minded 69-year-old pledged to revitalize both the LDP and Japan’s economy within two years, identifying inflation as a top priority. He has proposed a massive state subsidy system for local governments, worth trillions of yen, and said he would seek a new coalition framework to stabilize the government.

Rounding out the field is Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, a former economic security minister educated at Harvard University. A staunch conservative, Kobayashi argued that Japan’s current defense spending goals are “absolutely insufficient” and called for further increases. He also cast himself as a candidate for generational change, promising to “reboot” the LDP after its credibility was eroded by a political funds scandal that led to the disbandment of most intraparty factions.

Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported that a Japanese party named AI as new leader.