Japan’s Ishiba Announces Final Bid for LDP President; Ishiba Vows to Establish LDP that Will ‘Abide by the Rules’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:04 JST, August 24, 2024

YAZU, Tottori — Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, announced Saturday that he will run in the party’s presidential election next month.

Ishiba is the second person to announce his candidacy for LDP president, following former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49. It is the fifth time for the 67-year-old politician to run for the position.

“I will dedicate everything I have in my final bid [for LDP president],” Ishiba told reporters in his hometown of Yazu, Tottori Prefecture. “It will be the culmination of my political career, which has spanned 38 years.”

“I will establish a Liberal Democratic Party that will abide by the rules,” he added, referencing the funds scandal involving LDP factions.

Ishiba has been elected 12 times to the House of Representatives from the Tottori Constituency No. 1. He has served as defense minister and agricultural minister, in addition to being the LDP’s secretary general.

He has also always been among the most popular in opinion polls when asked who they thought would be a suitable prime minister.

Ishiba has previously run in LDP presidential elections in 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2020. In 2012, he received the most votes in the first round of voting but lost to the now late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a runoff.

The upcoming LDP election is scheduled for Sept. 27 and official campaigning is set to start Sept. 12. The winner of the election is expected to be named the next prime minister at an extraordinary Diet session in early October to form a new cabinet.