Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba, digital transformation minister Taro Kono, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi are set to compete for support in the upcoming Japanese ruling party’s presidential election. The three politicians, known as the “Koishikawa coalition,” will go their separate ways for the September 27 LDP presidential election to vie for backing from party members.
On Saturday, Ishiba announced his candidacy for the upcoming election, which will determine a successor to current LDP chief and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Kono is scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday to declare his bid, while Koizumi is expected to announce his candidacy on Friday.
Although Ishiba has expressed hopes of collaboration among the three candidates, many within the party remain skeptical about such cooperation in the impending election. ”Even if we compete in this election, we still share a fundamental connection,” Ishiba stated on Friday when asked about potential future cooperation between himself, Kono, and Koizumi.
In the previous party presidential election three years ago—won by Kishida—Kono ran as a candidate with support from both Ishiba and Koizumi. At that time, Kono emphasized the need for a party overhaul while Ishiba characterized it as “a fight between an outdated LDP and the people.” Despite receiving more votes from rank-and-file party members and supporters than any other candidate at that time, Kono ranked third among LDP lawmakers’ votes. Koizumi described these results as “a near complete defeat” for their camp.
The dynamics between Ishiba-Koizumi pair and Kono changed following several disbandments of LDP factions led by Kishida due to a political funds scandal affecting those factions. While most factions were dissolved during this period of reform within the party structure, one faction led by LDP Vice President Taro Aso remained intact. Consequently, Kono decided to stay with Aso’s faction instead of joining any specific group—a decision that created a rift between him and Ishiba-Koizumi pair who operate independently without factional affiliations.
Public opinion polls conducted by Japanese media outlets consistently highlight high popularity ratings for all three candidates—Ishiba,Kono,and Koizumi.In light of these popular figures competing for leadership intheLDP,a senior official remarked,”Competitionforparty member votes is expectedtobefierce.”Shigeru Sato,the headoftheLDPbranchinYokohama City,southofTokyo,stated,”We will workonconcentratingourvotesonKoizumi.”YoshihideSuga,LDPlawmakerandimmediatepredecessortoKishida—whoislikelytoendorseKoizumifortheupcomingelection—exertssignificantinfluenceovertheLDPhubinYokohama.WithmorecandidatesanticipatedtorunforLDPpresident,itremainspossiblethatnoneofthecandidateswillsecureamajorityofvotesinthefirstround,resultinginanecessityforarunoffvotingprocess todeterminethenextLDppresident.Whilemanybelieve thatthestrategiesadoptedbytheKoishikawacoalitionmaydeterminevictoryinaugustelection,a mid-rankinglawmakersuggestedthat”asthecoalitionisbasedoncalculatedrelationships,theircollaborationiscompletelyfictional”.