Takaichi makes 2nd bid for Japan ruling party leadership
Japan’s economic security minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday she will run again to become president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, prioritizing economic growth to make the country “stronger and richer” while underscoring her conservative agenda.
Joining what is already a crowded race with a record number of candidates, Takaichi, 63, one of the most hawkish contenders in the Sept 27 election, is seeking to replace Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is resigning to take responsibility for the party’s political funds scandal.
Unlike her previous presidential bid, she will not have the support of the late premier Shinzo Abe, with whom she shared conservative views on security issues. Takaichi is often picked by voters in media polls as most likely to become Japan’s first female prime minister.
Takaichi, who has harshly criticized China’s expanding military assertiveness, said she will focus on boosting Japan’s strength in the fields of diplomacy, defense, the economy, technology, intelligence and human capital.
“I will pursue economic growth first and foremost and as much as possible,” Takaichi told a press conference, noting the need for “strategic” fiscal spending for the economy. She is the seventh candidate and the first woman to join the upcoming LDP election.
The ninth-term House of Representatives member was eliminated in the first round of voting in the LDP’s 2021 election when Kishida was elected. Before assuming her current post under his cabinet, she served as internal affairs minister and the LDP’s policy chief.
During her press conference, she repeatedly referenced Abe. Takaichi said she will promote the vision of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” as he did, stressing that Japan must ensure its ally the United States remains “engaged” in the region.
The election will also feature another conservative lawmaker Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, who served as economic security minister before Takaichi. Their contest has brought into focus how much support each candidate can garner from the LDP’s conservative base.
Takaichi said she will push for revising Japan’s pacifist Constitution at an early date to stipulate the existence of the Self-Defense Forces in line with the LDP’s goal.
She has periodically visited the war-linked Yasukuni shrine that honors war criminals along with war dead, a source of diplomatic friction with China and South Korea, both of which suffered from Japan’s wartime aggression.
Calling Yasukuni an “important” place, Takaichi suggested Monday that she will continue to visit the shrine even if she assumes the post of prime minister.
She also pledged to remove a buoy that China has installed in the waters around the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
On the issue of allowing married couples to use different surnames, a controversial issue within the conservative LDP, Takaichi has said she will take a cautious stance.
The LDP leadership race will be held as current leader Kishida, who took office in October 2021, is stepping down at the end of his three-year term in late September, after a slush funds scandal engulfed the ruling party and hurt voter trust.
Takaichi is the third cabinet member to announce her candidacy after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, and Digital Minister Taro Kono, 61.
Other candidates include former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, 67, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43. LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, 68, the No.2 in the ruling party, has also announced his bid.