Takaichi Secures Victory in Japan’s LDP Leadership Race
(MENAFN) Sanae Takaichi, former Internal Affairs Minister, secured victory in Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race on Saturday, emerging as the frontrunner after both the initial and final rounds of voting.
Takaichi triumphed over Shinjiro Koizumi, the nation's Farm Minister, in the decisive run-off, following a competitive first round that also included Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and ex-Economic Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi.
According to media, 341 votes were available in the run-off, including 294 cast by LDP lawmakers. Takaichi claimed 185 votes to Koizumi's 156.
"I decided to run in this presidential election because of a profound sense of crisis: the LDP must change for the sake of Japan's present and future. I want to create a politics that transforms the anxieties about daily life and the future into hope," Takaichi said in a speech delivered after the first round of voting.
The leadership contest was advanced from its originally scheduled 2027 date following the abrupt resignation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on September 7.
Ishiba stepped down after the LDP-led coalition suffered a significant setback in the upper house elections held in July.
While the LDP and its coalition partners currently lack a parliamentary majority, the party's new leader is widely expected to become Japan’s next prime minister.
If appointed, Takaichi would make history as the first woman to assume both the prime ministership and leadership of the ruling LDP.
The party has faced mounting pressure in recent years, especially following the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Subsequent controversies—including a slush fund scandal—have further strained public confidence in the LDP’s leadership.
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