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Japan's Takaichi to seek party leadership, opening prospect of first female PM
Takaichi has the backing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, local media said, and would base her challenge on policies to fend off China's technology threat and help strengthen an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Newly appointed Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on September 11, 2019. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on September 11 appointed new foreign and defence ministers and promoted a popular rising political star, in a cabinet reshuffle that fuelled speculation over the prime minister's successor.
(AFP/Toshifumi Kitamura)
F
ormer Japanese internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi is set to announce her bid for ruling party leadership on Wednesday, her office said, which if successful would see her become Japan's first female prime minister.
Takaichi has the backing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, local media said, and would base her challenge on policies to fend off China's technology threat and help strengthen an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will hold a leadership election on Sept. 29, after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced last Friday he was stepping down. The winner of the vote is all but assured to be Japan's next prime minister.
Takaichi, 60, became the first female internal affairs minister in the second Abe administration in 2014.
But even as local media have said influential Abe has thrown his support behind Takaichi helping her obtain the 20 lawmaker backers needed to run in the leadership election, she has ranked poorly in popularity ratings, which could hamper her chances.
Grass-roots LDP members will vote in the leadership election along with the party's members of parliament, and whoever wins will lead the party to the lower house election that must be held by Nov. 28, making public appeal an important factor in choosing the new leader.
Takaichi has said she wanted to work on issues left unresolved by previous administrations, such as achieving 2% inflation, and introducing legislation "that prevents the leakage of sensitive information to China".
