Generational change or gender breakthrough, whoever Japan's next PM is will have a mountain to climb

"The next leader of Japan's ruling party will either be the country's first female prime minister or its youngest leader since the war. But the significance of those milestones will be quickly lost in the party's attempts to rebuild after two bruising elections that have cast doubt over the future of one of the world's most successful political machines. Two of the five candidates vying to replace Shigeru ishiba who announced his resignation earlier this month as the next president of the Liberal Democratic party"

"With just over a week to go before LDP lawmakers and rank-and-file party members cast their votes, Shinjiro Koizumi appears to be on course to become Japan's youngest postwar prime minister. His elevation to the top job would no longer be a certainty now that the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito have lost their majority in both houses of parliament. But he would likely be approved since the LDP is the largest party in the powerful lower house."

"The 44-year-old son of maverick former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi is popular with party members and has won praise for his attempts to address the soaring rice prices in his current role as agriculture minister. His main rival, Sanae Takaichi, is a prominent voice on the right of the LDP a critic of China with strong ideological links to the former prime minister and foreign policy hawk, Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022."

The Liberal Democratic party will elect a new leader who could be the country's first female prime minister or its youngest postwar prime minister. The party seeks to rebuild after two bruising elections, a major funding scandal, and a cost-of-living crisis that have challenged its dominance. With the LDP and coalition partner Komeito having lost their majority in both parliamentary houses, the new leader faces constrained authority despite the LDP remaining largest in the lower house. Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, is popular within the party and credited for addressing soaring rice prices as agriculture minister. Sanae Takaichi, 64, represents the party's right wing and could introduce more hawkish international stances.

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