Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s former defense minister, delivers his campaign speech for the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) presidential election in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.
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Former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba won the race to lead Japan’s ruling party on Friday, lining him up to become the country’s next prime minister.
Ishiba defeated economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in a runoff, after the two won the most votes in the first round in a crowded field of nine candidates.
The 67-year-old Ishiba will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who threw the Liberal Democratic Party for a loop when he announced in August that he would not be running for its top office, effectively ending his three-year term.
Ishiba is now expected to be approved as prime minister in a vote by parliament on Oct. 1 due to the LDP having a majority in both chambers of the legislature, effectively ensuring its chief becomes the next prime minister.
The election outcome is set to have major implications for Japan, with Ishiba inheriting a party marked by a corruption scandal, an economy in a precarious transition from years of stagnation, and emerging security and diplomatic threats on the world stage.
In the run up to the election, Ishiba endorsed the Bank of Japan’s policy of steadily raising interest rates and voiced concerns about depreciation of the yen, differentiating himself from runoff opponent Takaichi who supported ultra-low-rates.
In March, the Bank of Japan exited a policy of long-held negative interest rates and then raised rates again in July.
Ishiba has also called for the establishment of an Asian NATO to deter threats from China and North Korea.
Polls had suggested that the favorites in the election included ex-environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi alongside Takaichi and Ishiba. However, the politician, who was vying to be Japan’s youngest ever prime minister, was unable to secure enough votes to advance to the next round.
Takaichi, 63, was one of two women in the race and has argued that Japan’s economy needs more fiscal stimulus and to strengthen in fields including diplomacy and defense.
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