President of the LDP and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on 3 September that he would not run for his re-election, amid low approval ratings and media reports of dissension within the party.[2] Suga was initially elected President of the LDP in 2020 to serve the rest of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's third and final term after Abe resigned in August 2020 due to health issues.
Former Minister for Foreign AffairsFumio Kishida won the election in a second round runoff, defeating opponent Taro Kono, the incumbent Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform. Kishida's victory was driven by strong support among LDP Diet members, while Kono led polling prior to the election and won the most votes from dues-paying party members. Kishida was confirmed by the Diet as Japan's 100th Prime Minister on 4 October 2021.[3]
Background
Shinzo Abe was elected President of the LDP three consecutive times in 2012, 2015 and 2018 following a rule change in 2017 which extended the office's term limit to three consecutive terms instead of two.[4] He successfully led the LDP to three consecutive general election victories in 2012, 2014 and 2017 and assumed the premiership as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history.[5] On 28 August 2020, Abe suddenly announced that he would resign as Prime Minister and LDP President following a resurgence of his ulcerative colitis.[6]
Chief Cabinet SecretaryYoshihide Suga won the party's special election in September 2020 to serve the remainder of Abe's term as LDP President, with Suga subsequently entering office as Prime Minister on 16 September.[2] Suga had initially announced that he would run for re-election for a full term as LDP President in advance of the 2021 general election.[7] On 3 September 2021, Suga reversed course and announced that he would not run for re-election as LDP President, amid poor approval ratings and media reports of internal dissension within the party regarding Suga's leadership.[2]
Suga's withdrawal from the race as well as the fact that most of the LDP's internal factions have declined to endorse a specific candidate led to the election being described as wide open and unpredictable.[8]
Election procedure
The election process for the President of the LDP is established in the "Rules for the Election of President of the Party".[9] To officially qualify as a candidate in the election, a candidate must be an LDP member of the National Diet and must receive a nomination from at least 20 fellow LDP Diet members.[9]
The LDP selects its leader via a two-round election involving both LDP members of the Diet and dues-paying party members from across Japan.[10] In the first round, all LDP members of the Diet cast one vote while party member votes are translated proportionally into votes equaling the other half of the total ballots.[10] If any candidate wins a majority (over 50%) of votes in the first-round, that candidate is elected President.[10]
If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, a runoff is held immediately between the top two candidates.[10] In the runoff, all Diet members vote again while the 47 prefectural chapters of the LDP get one vote each, with the result of the latter votes determined using the first round results of party members in each prefecture.[10] The candidate who wins the most votes in the runoff is then elected President.[10]
The party's secretary general can decide to organise the election with the rule of the second round only, as was decided in 2020, but didn't as for 2021.[11]
Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform (since 2020) Minister for COVID-19 Vaccinations (since 2021) Member of the House of Representatives (since 1996)
Yoshimasa Hayashi (Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Former member of the House of Councillors for Yamaguchi district)
Hiroshi Hase (Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; professional wrestler; member of the House of Representatives for Ishikawa 1st district）
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Shigeru Ishiba announces that he will not run for the LDP leadership; Shinjirō Koizumi announces that he will not run for the LDP leadership and will back Taro Kono
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga withdraws from the election; Taro Kono conveys privately to LDP members that he will run; and Seiko Noda expresses her willingness to run
After Prime Minister Suga announced his resignation, Kono was heavily favored to win the election as he was in first place among many LDP polls leading up to the election.[52] His campaign was endorsed by Suga and other high ranking LDP members,[53] but Kishida narrowly won the first round of the election and ultimately defeated Kono in the run-off.[50][51]
After being elected, Kishida's victory was labelled as a win for the party's "technocrats establishment".[54] Kishida was seen by many LDP members as a stable choice to succeed Suga rather than a rapid change.[54][55] Kono was seen as a candidate of change.[55] Kishida vowed not to increase the consumption tax rates in Japan and reviewing the pension and health-care system in the country.[54] He has said that his main focus would be to focus on income redistribution to address income inequality.[54]
U.S. PresidentJoe Biden congratulated Kishida and looked "forward to working with [Kishida] to strengthen our cooperation in the years ahead".[56]
President of TaiwanTsai Ing-wen congratulated Kishida after he was elected Prime Minister of Japan.[57]
^"群馬・山本知事が河野氏支持表明 県議ら歓迎初" (in Japanese). Sankei Shimbun. 15 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
^"自民総裁選、河野氏33％、石破氏16％ 朝日世論調査" (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun. 12 September 2021. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
^ ab"第27代自民党総裁に岸田文雄衆議院議員が決定" (in Japanese). The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
^ ab"党員投票開票結果"(PDF) (in Japanese). The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
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