Kishida, like Biden, revives party by stepping aside

August 26, 2024

TOKYO – After Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would not seek a new term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party at the end of September and would step aside as prime minister, more than 10 LDP members signaled their intentions to run for the party presidency. It seems that Kishida’s imminent departure and the contest to succeed him are just the medicine the LDP needed to overcome its unpopularity.

Kishida may turn out to have rescued the LDP by announcing his intention not to run for reelection, just as U.S. President Joe Biden appears to have done for his Democratic Party.

Most LDP members were surprised when they heard on Aug. 14 that Kishida would give up his reelection bid, as they predicted he would run and possibly win because no strong candidates to replace him had emerged.

In a mid-July poll, 16% of LDP supporters picked Kishida when they were asked, “Who is a suitable candidate to be the next LDP president?” This put Kishida in second place, ahead of former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. First place in the poll went to Shigeru Ishiba, a former LDP secretary general and former defense minister, who was selected by 23%. However, Ishiba has lost past LDP presidential races four times because he is unpopular among LDP Diet members.

If Kishida had remained in the race and been able to proceed to a second round of voting held among the LDP’s Diet members and the party’s 47 prefectural chapters, he was expected to secure a majority. It was assumed that he would have support from the 54-member Aso faction, the about 40-member Motegi faction, the eight members of the former Moriyama faction, and part of the