Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party leader and current party leader Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a press conference after being elected in the party leadership election on September 27, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
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Japan's incoming Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday that he would call a general election on October 27 after winning one of the elections. The Closest Leadership Competition Ever for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The poll will be conducted a year earlier than in the U.S. presidential election In November, it will be decided which party controls the lower house of parliament. Lawmakers there will meet tomorrow to confirm him as the country's next prime minister.
“It is very important for the new government to accept the people's evaluation as soon as possible,” Ishiba told a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo.
Japanese stocks fell more than 4% in early trading on Monday as the yen strengthened, while Japanese government bonds surged following the election of Shigeru Ishiba, considered a monetary policy hawk, to leadership.
Shigeru Ishiba on Monday began selecting government and party officials who will run with him in the upcoming election.
Two sources familiar with the appointments told Reuters earlier that they so far include two rivals in the leadership race, with Kato Katsunobu as finance minister and Hayashi Yoshimasa continuing as chief cabinet secretary, a key position that includes government The role of the supreme spokesperson.
Former Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, a close ally of Ishiba, will take over as foreign minister, while Gen Nakatani will return to the defense ministry, a post he held in 2016, sources said. Quan accepted media interviews and confirmed previous media reports.
Another source said former deputy minister Yoji Muto will be in charge of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
However, his picks did not include hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi, whom he defeated by 215 votes to 194 on Friday in the closest leadership election in nearly 70 years.
Takaichi's absence may make it difficult for Ishiba to manage a fractious ruling group whose public support has been eroded by scandals.
Hiroshi Shiratori, a political science professor at Tokyo's Hosei University, said media reports that the senior high school student turned down the position “may indicate that Ishiba's support base is weak, which may cause problems for his future.”
Ishiba chose another rival, Shinjiro Koizumi, as his campaign chief, along with former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, a Koizumi supporter who is the party's new vice president. The two attended Monday's news conference together.
Shigeru Ishiba, 67, won his fifth LDP leadership contest with strong support from rank-and-file members.
However, many of his parliamentary colleagues view him as a troublemaker because he often flouts party policy. On Friday, ahead of a runoff with Takaichi, he apologized to Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers for his “shortcomings.”