TOKYO, Oct 21 (Kyodo/APP): Sanae Takaichi, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is set to be elected Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, backed by its new coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, amid a political flux caused by growing multiparty dynamics.
While the alliance of the LDP and the JIP is just short of a majority in the powerful House of Representatives, Takaichi’s selection as Shigeru Ishiba’s successor is virtually assured as opposition forces have failed to field a joint candidate.
Takaichi has been stepping up arrangements for her Cabinet, with a source close to her saying she may select LDP lawmaker Satsuki Katayama for finance minister as they are both fiscal doves.
By appointing Katayama, a former senior Finance Ministry bureaucrat and former minister for regional revitalization, Takaichi is apparently aiming to project a sense of renewal for the LDP-led government through the broad inclusion of women in key positions.
Takaichi has also decided to pick female LDP lawmaker Kimi Onoda as economic security minister and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator with the United States, as trade minister to ensure continuity in bilateral talks.
The source added that Takaichi has been willing to offer major posts to her four rivals in October’s LDP leadership election, signaling her intention to promote party unity through the new Cabinet lineup.
With around four independent lower house lawmakers considering voting for Takaichi, the 64-year-old conservative could clinch victory in the first round, in which a candidate must win more than half of the ballots to avoid a runoff.