BAKU. Azerbaijan. August 14. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will not run in the September election for the chairman of the country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Since the ruling party chairman effectively becomes the prime minister, Kishida will step down after the LDP election, TurkicWorld reports.
Kishida's decision to withdraw from the election comes as the government's approval ratings have fallen to record lows due to a series of scandals, mainly over financial reporting violations in the LDP's collection of political donations. He called on his allies to "take responsibility" for the scandal.
So far, only the country's Minister of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi has definitely announced her plans to run for the post of LDP leader. Several other Japanese politicians, including members of the Kishida cabinet, also have prime ministerial ambitions, but for various reasons they have not yet publicly expressed their intention to put forward their candidacies.
Possible candidates for the post of LDP chairman include former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is extremely popular among the population, LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Digital Development Taro Kono, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
According to numerous opinion polls, the most popular candidates are Ishiba, Koizumi and Kono. However, the election of the LDP chairman is held among party members, which means that to win, a candidate needs the support of party members, both ordinary members and deputies, and support among current members of parliament is crucial.
