Japan’s LDP to Hold Presidential Voting on Sept. 27; 15-Day Campaign to Choose Successor to PM Fumio Kishida

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:12 JST, August 20, 2024

The Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday finalized Sept. 27 as the date of its presidential election to choose the successor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The official campaign period will start on Sept. 12, making the election period 15 days, the longest since the current rules were established in 1995.

The party hopes that lively debate during the campaign will provide an opportunity to restore the trust that was lost due to the scandal over violations of the Political Funds Control Law by factions within the party.

The schedule was set by the Party Presidential Election Administration Committee and later approved by the General Council.

In many past LDP presidential elections, the official campaign period was around 12 days, but with the party facing numerous continuing headwinds, many members have been calling for the period to be longer to allow for more opportunity for policy debate.

The upcoming LDP presidential election will be held shortly before Kishida’s term as president expires on Sept. 30. Candidates will compete for a total 734 votes, consisting of the 367 votes of Diet members — one per person — and the votes of rank-and-file party members and members of affiliated groups, which are converted to equal those of the Diet members. If no candidate receives a majority in the first round of voting, a runoff election will be held between the top two candidates.

“The presidential election process itself will show people what the new LDP is like. I hope that serious debate will take place in public view,” said Kishida at a meeting of the party’s Board on Tuesday, while expressing his hopes for an “open presidential election.”

More than 10 lawmakers have expressed interest in running in the presidential election. Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, announced his candidacy on Monday, and former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, 67, will also announce his candidacy as early as on Thursday.

On Tuesday morning, Kobayashi visited each lawmaker’s office at the Diet members’ building in Tokyo’s Nagatacho district and called for their support.