Abe, Ishiba File Candidacies for LDP Leadership Race

September 7, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, filed their candidacies for the party's presidential election on Friday, at the start of its official campaign period.

Abe, 63, aims to win a third consecutive three-year term as LDP chief, while Ishiba, 61, will attempt for the third time to reach the ruling party's top post.

LDP president is effectively assured of the prime ministership because of the party's comfortable majority in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament.

Key campaign issues are likely to include evaluations of Abe's handling of the government as prime minister and how to proceed with constitutional amendments.

The election, set for Sept. 20, is the first contest for the LDP leadership in six years. Abe, who took the current post in 2012, was reelected uncontested in 2015 as no one else ran.

It will be the first clash between the incumbent president and a challenger, or challengers, since former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi beat three contenders in 2003.

The incumbent will be challenged to a one-on-one fight for the first time since the current leadership election system, which requires a candidate to secure nominations from at least 20 LDP lawmakers, was introduced in 1972.

The camps of Abe and Ishiba submitted their respective lists of 20 LDP lawmakers recommending them.

In the wake of a powerful earthquake that hit Hokkaido, northern Japan, on Thursday, the LDP decided to postpone the two candidates' speeches and joint press conference, initially set for Friday, until Monday. The two camps canceled their kickoff rallies.

Attending a meeting of related cabinet ministers for discussing responses to the Hokkaido earthquake on Friday morning, Abe said, "I want to see you taking a proactive approach."

Ishiba told reporters, "I'll speak the truth to the voters with courage and cordiality."

The two candidates will vie for a total of 810 votes--405 votes from LDP lawmakers and the same number based on ballots cast by other party members and supporters.

Abe has already secured support from five major intraparty factions, including the largest one led by former LDP Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda, to which the prime minister has belonged, as well as from some lawmakers belonging the faction led by LDP General Council Chairman Wataru Takeshita.

The focus will be on how much support Ishiba can win from non-lawmaker party members and supporters.

The LDP has set the maximum tenure of office for a party leader at three consecutive three-year terms.

The winner of the upcoming election will stay in office until September 2021, unless he steps down for some reason. If the LDP stays in power, the party's next president will serve in the position of prime minister as Japan's face at the time of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Jiji Press