JAPAN Ishiba, a long-term politician for the post-Kishida era

The former Minister of Defense, 67, won in the second round in the primary elections of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party over Sanae Takaichi, the candidate closest to Shinzo Abe’s legacy. He will be appointed prime minister on October 1 and will be called upon to boost support for the political force that has been key on the Japanese political scene since the postwar period. But an electoral confrontation with the opposition leader, Yoshihiko Noda, is already on the horizon.

Tokyo () – Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, 67, has won the primary elections of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, defeating in the second round the Minister of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi, who aspired to become the first woman Prime Minister of Japan. In reality, the vote is intended to designate the successor of Fumio Kishida, who – in a crisis of consensus – had announced last month his intention to step aside. Ishiba is expected to form the new government in an extraordinary session of the Diet, already called for October 1. Immediately afterwards, the option of taking the country to early elections is considered probable, perhaps as early as the end of the year.

Up to nine candidates are running to lead the party that has almost continuously dominated the Japanese political scene since the post-war period. An unusually high number, also linked to the dissolution of the powerful currents decided after the scandals over their financing. Among those excluded from the vote is the young Shinjiro Koizumi, 43 years old, son of former Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi. On the other hand, Ishiba is a long-serving politician, who came to the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party after being defeated four times in the past in the leadership race in the primary elections.

This time he won by a narrow margin, garnering 215 votes compared to 194 for Takaichi, an exponent of the conservative wing that remains more closely linked to the legacy of Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister assassinated in 2022. A native of Tokyo, also the son of a A former interior minister, Ishiba is known as an experienced politician on defense and regional revitalization issues, popular with local supporters but not so much among party deputies.

Now he will face the challenge of renewing a political force weakened by the black box scandals and regaining the trust of voters in the face of the not-too-distant general elections, in which he will clash with Yoshihiko Noda, the opposition politician who briefly led the Government of the country in 2011 and whom the Constitutional Democratic Party once again elected as leader in its primary elections held this week.

A confrontation looms on the horizon in a Japan where economic growth remains uncertain and household costs continue to rise. And in an international context in which tense relations with China, North Korea and Russia continue to pose a threat to Japan’s security.