TOKYO, Oct 1 – The next president of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party will likely become Japan’s next prime minister, despite the LDP-led coalition having lost its majority in parliament, as the three main opposition parties remain split over fielding a joint candidate, a source close to the matter said Tuesday.
This became apparent as the government and the LDP are arranging to convene an extraordinary parliament session on Oct. 14 or later to pick the successor to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after the party’s presidential election next Saturday, the source said.
Since the ruling coalition of the LDP and its junior partner, the Komeito party, no longer command a majority in the powerful House of Representatives, the opposition could in theory capture power with a unified candidate.
But talks among the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People stalled, as their Diet affairs chiefs failed to agree on a common approach to the vote, the source said.
The JIP and the DPP are the second-largest opposition parties in the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, respectively.
The LDP leadership election preparations follow Ishiba’s announcement earlier this month that he would step down as party leader — signaling the end of his premiership — to take responsibility for heavy defeats in both chambers of parliament since becoming prime minister in October last year.
Former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi and farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi are seen as the frontrunners, followed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, according to public opinion polls.
(Photo: Combined photo shows the five candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race — (from L) former Economic Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi, former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi and farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi.)
