Former PM Noda Will Run in CDPJ Leadership Race; Candidacy Announcement Date Remains Under Consideration

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:43 JST, August 24, 2024

Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has decided to run in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s leadership election to be held on Sept. 23, it has been learned.

The 67-year-old CDPJ member is still considering when to announce his candidacy for the race, whose official campaign period will start on Sept. 7, according to party sources.

On Friday, Noda consulted with his group of supporters within the party; in addition to this, a group of junior and mid-ranking members asked him to file his candidacy for the upcoming race.

“Make preparations on the assumption that I will run for the leadership election,” the former prime minister has told his aides, according to the sources.

Noda initially took a cautious stance toward running for the leadership election. However, he said on Monday that he “would carefully consider” becoming a candidate when he was asked to do so by the CDPJ’s Chiba prefectural chapter.

Noda has been elected to the House of Representatives nine times from Chiba Constituency No. 4. After the Democratic Party of Japan, the CDPJ’s predecessor, came to power in 2009, he served as prime minister from September 2011 to December the following year.

For the CDPJ election, former leader Yukio Edano, 60, has already announced his candidacy. His successor and current leader, Kenta Izumi, 50, has reportedly decided to join the race as well.