Description: The Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) enters a key period of decision-making process to name the successor of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who after losing both Upper and Lower house votes, submitted his resignation last month. Two prominent candidates among the party’s ranks have emerged in the conservative Sanae Takaichi and Shinjiro Koizumi who has strengthened his appeal to the party’s majority ministers of parliament in the past couple of weeks. Projections currently position both candidates to be in a closely contested leadership race within the LDP which would subsequently decide who would inherit Ishiba as the country’s new Prime Minister. Takaichi’s appeals to radically tackle the country’s growing problems with migration and ageing population had initial support among the party’s rank and file, however, her support and justification of Japan’s fascist past have raised concerns regarding her right-wing policy views. Koizumi on the other hand, despite struggling to appropriately handle the rice crisis in the country, has won some sympathies from the party’s majority by modifying his views on migration and having electoral appeal with the younger generation of voters. LDP’s new leader would be elected when 295 of the party’s ministers of parliament would cast their votes with additional 1 million votes from the rank-and-file party members which would be converted into additional 295 votes. If neither of the candidates manages to secure half of the votes, Takaichi and Koizumi would head to a runoff election.
Impact: LDP’s mounting problems with decline in popularity and support from the country’s voters pushed Ishiba out of office and positioned Japan’s largest political party in a period of transition. The party leadership election is of monumental significance as one of the candidates would inherit Ishiba as the country’s next Prime Minister and would be tasked with navigating one of the major players in the Pacific and the world’s fourth largest economy in fluctuating global conditions. LDP is also facing pressure from their junior coalition partner, Komeito and the surge of the conservative and far – right political party Sanseito, which has built its political charter around Japan’s issues with migration. Taking into account LDP’s internal issues with last year’s financial scandal and the growing problems with cost of living in the country, Shinjiro Koizumi currently reflects more appeal to become the party’s new leader and the country’s new Prime Minister.