On the heels of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's resignation announcement, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is laying the groundwork for an extraordinary Diet session to select a new premier and launch a new Cabinet before the holiday period that starts Sept. 19, according to sources.
Regarding the race to succeed Abe as LDP president, the party intends to pick a new leader at the Joint Plenary Meeting of Party Members of both houses of the Diet instead of conducting a vote by party members nationwide, which would require more time.
The party will decide how to conduct the presidential election at a meeting Tuesday of its General Council. LDP executives such as Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai have already decided to choose a new president at the joint plenary meeting in place of a party convention. Such an option is approved under the LDP' constitution in cases of emergency. If the party conducts a presidential election in a complete format based on its rules for leadership elections, preparations for voting by party members will take longer than desired. Given that, the LDP executives are concerned that this option would prolong the process to choose Abe's successor.
On Saturday, Nikai met with Tadamori Oshima, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Hiroshi Moriyama, chairperson of the LDP's Diet Affairs Committee, to exchange information on the schedule for future political matters.
In an LDP presidential election at the joint plenary meeting, a new president will be elected in voting involving 394 Diet members, excluding heads of both Diet chambers, and three representatives of each party prefectural chapter, which total 141 people. Compared with the official format of a presidential election in which candidates compete for the same number of ballots by rank-and-file party members as that of Diet members, ballots from Diet members have greater value in a leadership race at the joint plenary meeting.
Given that, many observers speculate that a presidential race at the joint plenary meeting would work against former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, who is popular among members of the public but has a weak intraparty base, with only 19 members belonging to his faction.
There is a possibility that each LDP prefectural chapter could affect how party lawmakers vote in the presidential race by conducting its own voting.
Members of the faction led by Nobuteru Ishihara reached a consensus Saturday that a new LDP president should be picked swiftly at the joint plenary meeting. On the other hand, Fumiaki Kobayashi, director of the LDP's Youth Division, and other members, who do not give importance to factions, began collecting signatures from LDP members to seek nationwide voting by party members. They intend to call on the party executives as early as Monday.
Major possible candidates for a new LDP president also accelerated their moves on Saturday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga traveled back and forth between Diet members' quarters and their offices to gather information on Saturday. He is apparently considering carefully whether to run for the party presidency.
LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida met with members of his faction at a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo at Saturday night to discuss their future moves. Kishida, who is close to Abe, apparently hopes to receive support from the LDP's largest faction, led by Hiroyuki Hosoda, which used to have Abe as a member, and the faction headed by Taro Aso.
Ishiba made arrangements mainly at the Diet members' quarters on Saturday. He has taken a stance to call for voting by party members.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Taro Kono, who is a member of the Aso faction, stated his intention to consider running in the election. "I want to think thoroughly and consult with my colleagues," he said at a press conference in Guam on Saturday.
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