Takaichi And Koizumi Seize Chairs Of The Chief Party In Japan, Potentially Become The Next PM

JAKARTA - The ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan will elect a new general chairman in today's party internal meeting, Saturday, October 4 local time.

Citing Tass, as many as five party members have run for the position, but only two candidates have a great chance of being selected. The results of the party's vote in the meeting are still unclear at this time.

Japanese political experts assess former Economy Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, one of the close people to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; and Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, son of former PM Junichiro Koizumi; as the leading candidate in the election.

Three other candidates, the current Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi; former Minister of Economic Security Takayuki Kobayashi; and former Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party, Toshimitsu Motegi, are considered unable to reach the second round of elections.

Takaichi and Koizumi are projected to advance to the second round. While Hayashi could become a 'black horse' that could suddenly stick out after recently actively gaining support within the party.

Later, candidates elected as the General Chair of the Liberal Democratic Party will also have a high chance of replacing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Ishiba has announced his resignation. He officially resigned from the position of Prime Minister of Japan after the elected Liberal Democratic Party chairman. Furthermore, the new PM will be approved by the Japanese Parliament.

In this general chairman election, the candidates will compete for 590 votes. In detail, 295 votes came from Liberal Democratic Party cadres in the Japanese Parliament, and the rest were ordinary members. Analysts agreed that the second round was inevitable, as no candidate had enough support to reach the absolute majority in the first round.