Japan:Kishida wins ruling party vote, set to become next PM

Japan’s former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida  on Wednesday won the governing party leadership election and is set to be the next prime minister. Kishida replaces outgoing party leader Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is stepping down after serving only one year since taking office last September. As new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida is certain to be elected the next prime minister on Monday in parliament, where his party and coalition partner control the house. Kishida beat Taro Kono, the vaccinations minister, in a runoff after moving ahead of two female candidates Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda in the first round.

 Kishida won 257 votes. Kono won 170 votes of the 425 available. Kishida will now lead the LDP into a general election due by November 28.  Kishida’s victory caps an unpredictable Liberal Democratic Party election, in which two of the four candidates were female and most of the party’s largest factions allowed their members a free vote. Although Kono and Kishida were nearly tied on the first ballot, Kishida’s stronger support among members of parliament pushed him over the top in the second round after Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda — both former internal affairs ministers — were eliminated.