Politics & Government

Trade Minister Nishimura Keen to Take LDP Reins After Kishida

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, center, attends a conference in Detroit on May 29.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:43 JST, June 29, 2023

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura expressed Wednesday his desire to run for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency, aiming to succeed party leader and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Nishimura said, “I have to consult with my colleagues, but if I can gain their understanding, I would definitely try,” in a speech in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Nishimura also said, “I want to support [Kishida] well” during his tenure as LDP president.

Regarding the new leadership structure of the LDP’s Abe faction, which has been without a leader since the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Nishimura said, “The mood that we are going to proceed with a core of five members [leading the faction] is gradually emerging,” with the five people in mind including Nishimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and Koichi Hagiuda, chairman of the party’s Policy Research Council. “We have been making sure that the five of us will not be divided,” he added.