New LDP Leadership Lineup: What Lies Beyond Changing ‘Landscape’ Matters Most

Editorial

14:59 JST, October 7, 2025

The first hurdle for newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi will be to repair the rift within the party caused by the turmoil due to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stepping down and to establish a framework to revive conservative politics.

Takaichi is expected to finalize the lineup for the party’s executive leadership as early as Tuesday. She is said to be planning to appoint veteran lawmaker Shunichi Suzuki, who is the chairperson of the party’s General Council and has been elected to the House of Representatives 11 times, as the party’s secretary general, a key post for management of the party.

Suzuki, a member of the LDP faction led by LDP Supreme Advisor Taro Aso, is also Aso’s brother-in-law. By appointing Suzuki, Takaichi appears to be aiming to repay Aso, who decisively backed her during the party presidential election.

Suzuki is known for his gentle personality. He is expected to play a role in fostering harmony within the party.

At a press conference after her election to the top LDP post, Takaichi said, “I think I can change the landscape of the LDP a little” through future party management and the promotion of various policy matters.

If she becomes the prime minister, it is believed that she will pursue a shift to the expansionary fiscal policy that she called for during campaigning for the presidential election and also will try to build a united party front through steps such as appointing other candidates who ran in the presidential race as well as female and younger LDP members to the party executive lineup and cabinet.

While the way that the administration presents itself is certainly important, the most crucial task is the responsible implementation of policies.

It is necessary for Takaichi to establish a framework to secure the financial resources needed to strengthen the nation’s defense capabilities — an area the Ishiba administration was unable to tackle — and to deal with reforms of the social security system from a medium- to long-term perspective.

After finalizing the personnel for the party leadership lineup and the cabinet, the focus will shift to whether the coalition government can be expanded, although the outlook remains unclear.

The Japan Innovation Party, seen as a strong coalition partner candidate, had envisioned a scenario in which it would join the coalition by securing a promise from the LDP to realize its flagship “second capital” policy.

However, it appears that the JIP had been anticipating a victory by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in the LDP presidential election. With Takaichi becoming the LDP president, the prospect of the JIP joining the coalition seems to be back at square one.

Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki insists that implementing the three-party agreement reached late last year between the LDP, Komeito and his party — including raising the “annual income barrier,” the income threshold for the imposition of income tax — should come first. His party’s support base, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), is cautious about the DPFP joining the coalition, so that hurdle is seen to be high.

Consideration for Komeito, the LDP’s current junior coalition partner, is also essential. Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito conveyed to Takaichi that if she makes a visit to Yasukuni Shrine, it could become a diplomatic issue, saying that resolving such concern is a condition for maintaining the coalition.

In recent years, relations between the LDP and Komeito have been strained over issues such as election cooperation in Tokyo. Without securing firm policy agreements from Komeito, expanding the coalition is out of the question.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 7, 2025)