news

[Global Times Report] According to the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK), the office of former Minister of Economic Security Takayuki Kobayashi announced on August 19 that Kobayashi Takayuki will hold a press conference at 2 pm to officially announce that he will participate in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election. He will thus become the first candidate to officially announce his candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency.

File photo of former Minister of Economic Security Kobayashi Takayuki

The current LDP presidential election will be held in September, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently announced that he will not participate. Several Japanese media reported that 11 LDP politicians are interested in participating in this election, and the election is expected to become a "big free-for-all."

NHK report illustration

According to NHK and other Japanese media, becoming a candidate for the LDP presidential election requires the recommendation of 20 party members of parliament. After Kishida announced his withdrawal from the election, LDP politicians who are interested in running for the election began to "compete" for recommenders, and the competition is extremely fierce. Earlier reports said that Kobayashi Takayuki has basically gathered all 20 recommenders.

NHK said that at present, former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Digitalization Minister Taro Kono, former Minister of Economic Security Takayuki Kobayashi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeru Saito, Minister of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi, former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Seiko Noda, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, and LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi are interested in participating in this election.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the specific schedule of this LDP presidential election will be announced on the 20th. The voting rules of the election are as follows: In the first round of voting, the votes of LDP members and LDP members of parliament from all over the country each account for half, and the candidate who receives more than half of the votes wins. If no one receives more than half of the votes, the two candidates with the most votes will enter the second round of voting, which will be decided by voting by LDP members of parliament and prefectural branches.