Japan: Former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi wins party elections, likely next PM

TOKYO: Former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election on Saturday, as reported by Kyodo News.

According to Kyodo News, Takaichi defeated farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi in a runoff vote. Replacing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as party chief, Takaichi is expected to become the country’s next prime minister.

As the new LDP head, whose term lasts until 2027, Takaichi is likely to become Japan’s next prime minister later this month, as the minority coalition with partner- Komeito party, remains the largest force in parliament and the opposition parties are not unified, Kyodo News reported.

It further reported that among the five candidates, Takaichi, Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi were widely seen as the leading contenders.

As per Kyodo News, the other contenders were former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi and former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. Like Hayashi, they both graduated from the University of Tokyo and earned master’s degrees from Harvard University.

64 year-old Takaichi, who is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister, was the leading choice among the public, while Koizumi, 44, son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, enjoyed the strongest support among his fellow lawmakers, according to recent media polls.

Takaichi is known as a staunch conservative, and Koizumi, who would have become Japan’s youngest postwar leader, were seen as early frontrunners, however Hayashi, 64, a dovish moderate with extensive ministerial experience, quickly closed the gap ahead of the poll.

In early September, Ishiba announced his intention to step down to take responsibility for the ruling bloc’s loss of majority in the House of Councillors election in July.

According to Kyodo News, the coalition also lost its majority in the House of Representatives election in October 2024 under the leadership of Ishiba, who had only become prime minister earlier in the month. (ANI)