In a second round, the race for leadership of the ruling party will be decided in Japanfollowing Fumio Kishida’s resignation in August.
The race heads to a runoff today, pitting a candidate seeking to become Japan’s first female prime minister against a veteran running for leadership for the fifth time.
In August, Kishida announced his intention to resign after a series of scandals dropped the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) poll numbers to record lows.
From the original record number of 9 candidatesEconomic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba received the most votes and advanced to the second round, which is expected to end at 3:30 pm (local time, 9:30 pm Greek time).
Unstable environment
Whoever is chosen will have to calm anger in the country over the rising cost of living and navigate Japan through a volatile security environment in East Asia, with China seeking to strengthen its influence and North Korea armed with weapons. nuclear.
The LDP, which has governed Japan for most of the post-war period and has a majority in parliament, is expected to hold general elections by October 2025.
Isiba was criticized by his own party’s MPs for questioning previous leaders, having failed in previous attempts to become party leader. He declared that after this race he will not race again.
A possible election of Takaichi, a staunch nationalist and supporter of the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies, would have the greatest consequences – and not just because she would become the first female prime minister in a male-dominated society. She criticized Japan’s central bank’s efforts to further raise interest rates from historically low levels, and her election could trigger a massive yen selloff, according to market analysts.
His pledge to reverse, if elected, leaders’ tendency to avoid the controversial Yasukuni war memorial could also harm relations with China, South Korea and others who see the monument as a symbol of Japanese aggression in World War II. Worldwide. The last Japanese leader to visit the memorial, which was erected to honor the war dead, including those convicted of war crimes by an Allied court after World War II, was Shinzo Abe in 2013.
Source: RES-MPE