Jumped from 2nd Place in Last Month's Poll to 1st Place This Month
Shinjiro Koizumi, former Japanese Environment Minister and second son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has ranked first in a preference poll for the next ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader to be elected at the end of next month.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported on the 23rd that in an emergency opinion poll conducted jointly with TV Tokyo from the 21st to 22nd among 595 people aged 18 and older, 23% of respondents chose former Environment Minister Koizumi as the most suitable candidate among 11 LDP lawmakers rumored to run for the party leadership.
In last month's poll, former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba, who had overtaken Koizumi to take first place, dropped to second place with 18%. Sanae Takaichi, Minister in charge of Economic Security, received 11%, former Minister in charge of Economic Security Takayuki Kobayashi 8%, Digital Minister Taro Kono 7%, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa 6%, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi 2%, ranking third to seventh respectively.
When narrowing respondents to LDP supporters, support for former Environment Minister Koizumi increased further. Among LDP supporters, the percentage who considered Koizumi suitable as the next party leader rose 14 percentage points from the previous month to 32%. Conversely, Ishiba's support fell from 20% last month to 14%.
This emergency opinion poll was conducted amid a fierce competition with no clear frontrunner after Prime Minister Kishida announced on the 14th that he would not run in the LDP leadership election. The LDP will elect its leader on the 27th of next month through voting by Diet members, party members (Japanese nationals who pay party dues), and party supporters (members of LDP-affiliated political organizations). In Japan's parliamentary system, the leader of the majority party, the LDP, becomes the Prime Minister.
Former Environment Minister Koizumi, who recently decided to run for party leader, is 43 years old this year, making him the youngest among the party lawmakers rumored to run. He has not been involved in any factional slush fund scandals, which is seen as a strength in terms of the generational change theme that is a key issue in this election.
However, some argue that aside from his role as Environment Minister, he lacks experience as a cabinet minister or senior LDP official, and that his tenure as Environment Minister was marked by ongoing controversy over "substance-less" remarks, leading to views that it may be premature to entrust him with the party leadership.
In 2019, at an environmental organization event held in New York, USA, he attracted foreign media attention for a contextless remark saying, "Big issues like climate change should be addressed in a fun, cool, and sexy way."
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