Japan's ex-minister Kobayashi to run in LDP leadership race

Tokyo, Sep 11 Japan's former Economic Security minister Takayuki Kobayashi announced Thursday that he will run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s presidential election next month, Kyodo News reported.

"I will take the lead and run in the LDP presidential election," Kobayashi, 50, said Thursday afternoon after a meeting with his supporters in the parliament building, the report said.

The announcement came days after former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi threw his hat into the ring, making Kobayashi the second LDP lawmaker to officially announce their candidacy for the October 4 race, which will choose the successor to outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Kobayashi, a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, served as economic security minister under then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida from 2021 to 2022. He said he is confident that he has the support of the 20 LDP lawmakers needed for him to run in the race.

This will be Kobayashi's second presidential attempt after an unsuccessful bid in last September's race, which Ishiba won to become Prime Minister the following month.

The snap election will be held on Oct. 4 following Ishiba's announcement on Sunday that he would step down as party president amid growing calls for him to take responsibility for the party's election defeat.

In a landmark political setback in July, Japan's ruling LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majority in the House of Councillors, signaling deep public dissatisfaction with the government.

The defeat follows a similar outcome in the 2024 House of Representatives election, leaving the ruling bloc a minority in both chambers of the parliament, a historic first since the LDP's founding in 1955.

Meanwhile, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has decided to hold its upcoming leadership election in a full-scale format, including votes from both lawmakers and rank-and-file party members, to select a successor to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

At a meeting on Tuesday, party executives agreed that the election will be officially announced on September 22, with lawmakers casting their ballots on October 4.

In the full-scale format, the contest will be decided by 590 votes in total, 295 from LDP lawmakers and 295 from party members. The campaign period will last more than 12 days.

LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama emphasized that a full-scale election is the most desirable way to elect a new leader, describing it as an opportunity for the party to reset and move forward as a national political force.

Under the election rules, a winner must obtain more than half of the votes in order to be elected as the new party chief, and if no one wins a majority in the first round, a run-off vote between the top two candidates will be held on the same day, when the LDP lawmakers vote a second time and the 47 prefectural chapters get one vote each.

With Ishiba stepping down, the LDP is bracing for a heated leadership contest as major contenders signal their intention to run.

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