<figure id="attachment_393195" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 606px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393195"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="552209e6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/09/7f922f0d6db1680e58722911dc4845a3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393195" class="wp-caption-text">Shigeru Ishiba wins LDP presidential election. Will he break away from &#8220;Abe-Aso politics?&#8221; &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
The biggest loser in the LDP presidential election was&#8211;.
Shigeru Ishiba won the LDP presidential election held on September 27, winning a decisive vote against Sanae Takaichi to become the new LDP president.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
The election was a huge contest with a record number of nine candidates in the fray. Shinjiro Koizumi took the lead in the early stages, taking advantage of his name recognition, but he lost ground with each debate. Takaichi instead surged ahead, but in the end, Ishiba turned the tables with 215 votes to 194 votes.
In addition to Ishiba, Takaichi, and Shinjiro, the candidates for president were Yoshimasa Hayashi, Takayuki Kobayashi, Toshimitsu Mogi, Yoko Kamikawa, Taro Kono, and Katsunobu Kato (in order of votes received).
<h2>Katsunobu Kato, who received 16 Diet member votes, became Minister of Finance.</h2>
Behind the scenes, as is typical in Nagatacho, where &#8220;a little bit of the future is always dark,&#8221; a sordid game of cat-and-mouse was being played out. The first to be pitied was Kato, who came in last.
In the first round of voting, he received 16 councilor votes and 6 party member votes, meaning that the number of councilor votes was less than the 20 nominees.
 The first round of voting brought in 16 councilor votes and 6 party member votes, meaning that 4 councilors had switched to the other camp,&#8221; said Mr. Kato. The audience was in a state of shock,&#8221; said a sports newspaper political reporter.
A reporter in charge of politics for a sports newspaper said, &#8220;The audience was in a stir. However, it is reported that Kishi is scheduled to be appointed as Minister of Finance in the new cabinet, so he has secured the post.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
Taro Kono, who contested the presidential election three years ago in a runoff with Kishida, also fared poorly.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="He lost the kingmaker contest. ......"></div>
On the evening of August 26, the Sankei Shimbun reported that &#8220;Deputy LDP President Taro Aso, who leads the largest faction in the party, announced his support for the election, but later &#8220;switched sides&#8221; to Mr. Takaichi.
 The Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on the evening of January 26th that &#8220;LDP Vice President Aso will support Mr. Takaichi, instructing Aso&#8217;s faction members to support Mr. Takaichi for the first time.
Kono responded to the report on the 27th morning.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
In response, Kono exploded with anger at a press conference held on the morning of January 27. In response to the Sankei Shimbun&#8217;s report, he said
 I have not heard anything about that, and I heard that Vice President Aso is scheduled to attend my rally today,&#8221; he said in vehement protest.
Aso is scheduled to attend my rally today,&#8221; he said in vehement protest.
<h2>Taro Kono&#8217;s boss, Aso, has given up on him.</h2>
 It is extremely unfortunate that, no matter how much the candidates appeal to the public about their policies, they are always given priority over political affairs, and that such &#8220;skimmed&#8221; articles are carried as if they were fact.
However, when the first round of voting was opened, Mr. Kono unexpectedly came out as the &#8220;booby&#8221; candidate, receiving 22 votes from Diet members and 8 votes from party members.
 I can&#8217;t help but feel sympathy for Mr. Kono, but I think he was affected by the negative image of &#8220;Block Taro,&#8221; who was not accepting critical social networking postings and was in a slump over the MyNa insurance card. However, I think the negative image of &#8220;Block Taro,&#8221; who does not accept critical social networking posts, has had an impact on him. Frankly speaking, I think it is fair to say that Mr. Kono has completely lost his prime ministerial prospects.
It seems unlikely that he will be appointed to the Ishiba administration, and it is likely that he will be given a cold shoulder. In a sense, it is fair to say that he is in a tougher position within the party than the lowest-ranking Kato.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
Still, if asked, &#8220;Who is the biggest loser in this presidential election?&#8221; If one were to ask, &#8220;Who is the biggest loser in this presidential race?&#8221; it would be none other than the long-running &#8220;Abe-Aso&#8221; politics.
 The late Prime Minister Abe was in office for 3,188 days, the longest tenure in history. During that time, former Prime Minister Abe was supported by Deputy Governor Taro Aso. This time, Aso gave up on his protégé, Kono, and replaced him with Takaichi, but his plans fell apart. The LDP lost a major cog in the wheel in the form of former Prime Minister Abe, and the LDP lost its balance as the problems of the former Unification Church and the slush fund were exposed one after another. The only candidate left in the runoff election was Takaichi, who enjoys the support of the former Abe faction. It seemed as if we were seeing the end of the Abe-Aso politics in the upcoming presidential election.
says a veteran reporter with 40 years of experience covering Nagatacho. One theory is that
 Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the &#8220;original kingmaker,&#8221; switched from Shinjiro to Takaichi and called for support from the lawmakers who hold his breath,&#8221; according to a veteran reporter.
The general election is expected to be held before the end of the year.
A general election is likely to be held before the end of this year. Mr. Ishiba is expected to take a tough stance against the slush fund members in order to regain his credibility, which has been damaged by &#8220;politics and money.
 The LDP president is in charge of deciding who is approved or not approved for the election. The kabushiki councilors must be very nervous right now,&#8221; said a source in Nagata-cho.
A source in Nagata-cho said, &#8220;What will the public make of this? What will the public make of this decision?

 Daisuke Iwasaki

 Shigeru Ishiba won a landslide victory over Sanae Takaichi in a runoff election to become the LDP president. The LDP presidential election was marked by ugly "power struggles" within the party, but the one who suffered the most was ......

End of Abe-Aso Politics: Shigeru Ishiba Becomes Prime Minister with Yoshiro Mori in the Background

Access Ranking