TOKYO: Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected Sanae Takaichi, 64, as its new leader on Saturday (Oct 4), meaning the country is poised to have its first female prime minister.
The former internal affairs minister and hardline nationalist defeated Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, in a faceoff vote, after a first round of voting of five candidates did not produce an outright winner.
She received 185 votes, ahead of Koizumi’s 156, in the faceoff election.
The new LDP president is likely to succeed Shigeru Ishiba as leader of the world’s fourth-biggest economy because the party, which has governed Japan for almost all the postwar period, is the biggest in parliament.
But this is not assured as the party and its coalition partner lost their majorities in both houses under Ishiba in the past year.
A vote in parliament to choose a prime minister to replace Ishiba is expected to be held on Oct 15.
The new LDP leader will inherit a party in crisis.
Various other parties, including the fiscally expansionist Democratic Party for the People and the anti-immigration Sanseito have been steadily luring, especially younger voters, away from the LDP.
Source: CNA
