In a few hours, Japan will know the identity of its next prime minister. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will elect a new prime minister to replace Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, given its leader and majority in the lower house of parliament.
The latest race information (Japan time):
11:07 a.m In the first round of voting, ordinary party members will have a big say.
LDP workers count the ballots of party members at their headquarters in Tokyo on September 27. © Kyodo
10:53 Japanese stocks rose on Friday morning, in part because of support for Sanae Takaichi, whose victory for Taro Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, meant a weaker yen and stronger stocks. Current economic security minister Takaichi defends Abenomics and opposes high interest rates.
The Nikkei Stock Average was up 317.67 points, or 0.82%, at 39,243.30 at 10:15 a.m. Decreased by 0.030%. The yen was trading at mid-145, down 0.27%.
10:50 Some of the leading candidates have been active on social media this morning.
10:47 a.m Tobias Harris, author of a biography of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, says the race will be very close.
“There have been no significant changes in the race in the final days of the campaign. The two finalists are likely to be from the elite group of Ishiba Shigeru, Koizumi Shinjiro and Takaichi Sanae. As expected, the election is likely to be one of the most dramatic in the LDP's seven-decade history. the top three candidates will finish within about 10 to 20 votes of each other in the first round, and there is no certainty as to who will advance to the second round, let alone win at all,” Harris wrote in an email note.
“The second round may be easier to read than the first. If Koizumi survives the first round, there is a good chance he will win the lead against both Ishiba and Takaichi.”
10:35 a.m Welcome to this live blog from rainy Tokyo.
Nine candidates are running (in alphabetical order by last name):
- Yoshimasa Hayashi, (Chief Cabinet Secretary)
- Shigeru Ishiba (former defense minister)
- Yoko Kamikawa (Foreign Minister)
- Katsunobu Kato (former Chief Cabinet Secretary)
- Takayuki Kobayashi (former economic security minister)
- Shinjiro Koizumi (son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, former environment minister)
- Taro Kono (Digital Minister)
- Toshimitsu Motegi (General Secretary of the LDP)
- Sanae Takaichi (Minister of Economic Security)
Recent media polls of LDP lawmakers and party members make it a three-horse race between Ishiba, Koizumi and Takaichi. The party's 368 Diet members are expected to start voting around 1:00 p.m. local time, with an equal number of votes allocated to the LDP's 1.09 million party members. The results of the first round are expected shortly after 14:00. If, as expected, no candidate wins a majority, a runoff between the top two candidates will be held shortly thereafter. In this case, there will be a total of 415 votes – 368 from legislators and 47 from local party branches.
Here are some stories to read as we wait for the results: