Eligible candidates will have earned the sole recommendation of at least 20 Diet members.
Eligible voters for the party presidency convention will be the 199 remaining LDP Diet members as well as 300 local party members representing prefectural chapters. If a majority of eligible voters is not attained on the first ballot a runoff vote will be held between the top two candidates. A potential runoff will differ from the initial round in that only LDP Diet members will be allowed to vote.
Candidates:
Taro Kono - Kono is the son of former lower house speaker Yohei Kono, who has the distinction of being the only LDP leader in the party's history to have not become prime minister. The younger Kono is considered a maverick who seeks to rebel against the LDP's old guard, though politically he is conservative with a few exceptions. His victory strategy is to reach out to the party rank and file representatives who account for a majority of convention delegates for the first time following the party's historic lower house election loss. Kono hopes this support will earn him a place in the runoff and sees himself as the natural second option for supporters of the other young candidate, Yasutoshi Nishimura.
Yasutoshi Nishimura - The aforementioned Nishimura is also seen as a young upstart in the party. He is unknown to much of the nation as he has spent most of his Diet career on the backbenches or as an undersecretary in Cabinet ministries. He inched ahead of Kono in D
[More...]Eligible candidates will have earned the sole recommendation of at least 20 Diet members.
Eligible voters for the party presidency convention will be the 199 remaining LDP Diet members as well as 300 local party members representing prefectural chapters. If a majority of eligible voters is not attained on the first ballot a runoff vote will be held between the top two candidates. A potential runoff will differ from the initial round in that only LDP Diet members will be allowed to vote.
Candidates:
Taro Kono - Kono is the son of former lower house speaker Yohei Kono, who has the distinction of being the only LDP leader in the party's history to have not become prime minister. The younger Kono is considered a maverick who seeks to rebel against the LDP's old guard, though politically he is conservative with a few exceptions. His victory strategy is to reach out to the party rank and file representatives who account for a majority of convention delegates for the first time following the party's historic lower house election loss. Kono hopes this support will earn him a place in the runoff and sees himself as the natural second option for supporters of the other young candidate, Yasutoshi Nishimura.
Yasutoshi Nishimura - The aforementioned Nishimura is also seen as a young upstart in the party. He is unknown to much of the nation as he has spent most of his Diet career on the backbenches or as an undersecretary in Cabinet ministries. He inched ahead of Kono in Diet support upon earning the recommendation of big-name LDPers Kaoru Yosano and Kunio Hatoyama. However, his lack of name recognition outside the Diet puts him at a disadvantage.
Sadakazu Tanigaki - Tanigaki is the establishment choice and presumptive favourite. Amongst the candidates filed he is the oldest and most experienced, having served nine terms in the lower house and in two Cabinets. He is best known for being Junichiro Koizumi's finance minister as well as for having sought the party leadership following Koizumi's resignation. This time, Tanigaki quickly earned the recommendation of multiple LDP faction heads as well as former Cabinet colleague Yuriko Koike, solidifying his position as the front-runner. Despite having the support of the party's old guard Tanigaki is ideologically moderate and has taken several high-profile political positions that put him out of the LDP mainstream. Most notable among those positions is refusal to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours the spirits of Japanese soldiers including several class-A war criminals from World War II. Visits to the shrine by past prime ministers has put the nation at odds with China and South Korea. His main leadership platform plank supports raising the consumption tax from 5% to 10% to pay for past budget increases, which also sets him apart from party conservatives. Tanigaki is expected to finish first in the initial round due to his strong support amongst Diet members. His support in the prefectural chapters remains to be seen, but it is likely he would have an advantage in a runoff scenario due to the exclusion of non-Diet members from a runoff vote.
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