Takaichi tops Kyodo poll of LDP supporters as best to lead ruling party
TOKYO, Sept. 28 Kyodo - Former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi is seen as the front-runner to lead Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, with 34.4 percent of LDP supporters naming her the most suitable candidate, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday ahead of the party's leadership election.
The results of the two-day telephone survey put farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi in second place with 29.3 percent support ahead of the Oct. 4 leadership contest to elect a successor to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who announced his resignation earlier this month.
The two are seen as the main contenders, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi coming in third at 19.5 percent. Former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and former Economic Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi had 5.2 percent and 3.8 percent support, respectively.
Among LDP supporters eligible to vote in the election, Takaichi is the most popular candidate, backed by 34.4 percent, followed by Koizumi with 30.5 percent support and Hayashi with 13.4 percent.
The survey suggests that no candidate will likely win an outright majority in the first round, making a runoff vote likely. Around 20 percent of LDP lawmakers have also yet to reveal who they back.
A survey of LDP lawmakers shows more than 80 endorse Koizumi, about 60 back Hayashi, while around 40 favor Takaichi. Around 30 support Kobayashi and Motegi each.
In the leadership election, each of the LDP's 295 Diet members will cast a vote, and another 295 votes will be determined based on ballots of rank-and-file members.
If no candidate obtains an outright majority in the first round of the election, a runoff between the top two contenders will be held on the same day.
Regarding policy priorities, 28.4 percent of the party supporters chose measures to combat rising prices, 18.7 percent picked diplomacy and security issues, while 16.7 percent wants social security issues including pensions to be addressed.
Among the potential countermeasures against inflation, 35.5 percent were in favor of a consumption tax cut, while cash handouts and an income tax cut were favored by 29.9 percent and 28.1 percent, respectively.
Ishiba said he would take responsibility for the ruling bloc's failure to maintain control of the House of Councillors in the July 20 election.
The coalition of the LDP and its junior partner, the Komeito party, had already lost its majority in the more powerful House of Representatives in a general election shortly after Ishiba took office in October 2024.
Asked about what kind of coalition would be most preferable, 48.2 percent picked the coalition of LDP and Komeito combined with an opposition party or opposition parties.
Some 33.5 percent of respondents listed the Japan Innovation Party as the most desirable opposition party to seek cooperation with, while 27.6 percent picked the Democratic Party for the People, and 14.5 percent chose the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
The survey, held Saturday and Sunday, called randomly selected households with eligible voters and mobile phone numbers, yielding responses from 1,044 people who said they were LDP supporters.
==Kyodo
