Japan's ruling party to vote for new leader to replace Suga
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's governing party will vote to pick its new leader Wednesday, with the presumed next prime minister facing imminent, crucial tasks such as addressing a pandemic-hit economy and ensuring strong alliance with Washington amid growing regional security risks.
The new leader also needs to change the party's high-handed reputation, worsened by the outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga who angered the public over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and insistence on holding the Olympics in Tokyo this past summer.
The long-ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party desperately needs to quickly turn around plunging public support ahead of lower house elections coming within two months, observers say.
Wednesday afternoon’s vote includes only LDP parliamentarians and grassroots members, and results will be known within hours. Whoever wins the LDP election will become prime minister because the party has control of parliament.
Taro Kono, the vaccinations minister, and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida are considered the top contenders, though unusually, two women are competing — ultra-conservative Sanae Takaichi and liberal-leaning Seiko Noda.
Takaichi has risen to a competitive third option after getting the crucial backing of Suga’s predecessor, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose conservative vision and revisionist stance she supports.
Kono, known as something of a maverick and a reformist, supports eventually phasing out nuclear energy, while Kishida calls for growth and distribution under his “new capitalism,” saying Abe’s economic policy only benefited big companies. Takaichi, by far the most hawkish who wants greater military capability and spending, promises to visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Noda pushes for women's rights and...
