Foreign Minister Kamikawa Hints at Running for LDP’s Presidency; Ex-Economic Security Minister Kobayashi Seems to Secure Support

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:23 JST, August 16, 2024

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa mentioned Thursday the possibility of running in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election scheduled in September, following Prime Minister and LDP President Fumio Kishida’s announcement not to seek reelection.

“I am ready to carefully consider and decide what to do on my own and take action accordingly,” Kamikawa, 71, said to reporters at the Foreign Ministry building, suggesting that she would seek to run for the party presidency.

One Cabinet member after another has expressed their intention to run. They must secure endorsements from 20 Diet members in the LDP to run in the election, and apparently aim to expand their support by expressing their intention for candidacy at an early stage.

Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, will likely be able to secure the necessary endorsements and begun preparing to announce his candidacy, sources close to him said Thursday. Some younger and mid-ranking party members calling for a generational change in the LDP hope he will run in the election.