By KEISHI NISHIMURA/ Staff Writer
September 9, 2024 at 17:37 JST
Sanae Takaichi, economic security minister, announces her bid for the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party at the Diet in Tokyo on Sept. 9. (Takeshi Iwashita)
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi became the seventh candidate in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, but she will likely face a tougher challenge this time than in her first attempt.
A record number of candidates have announced they will run in the Sept. 27 vote.
Takaichi made her declaration on Sept. 9 after securing the necessary 20 endorsements from LDP lawmakers to run.
“The ultimate mission of the government is to protect the lives and property of its people,” said Takaichi, 63, who pledged to strengthen national security, the economy and human resource development.
She expressed her relentless determination to pursue economic growth with “strategic fiscal stimulus” aimed at creating jobs and increasing incomes.
She also reiterated her long-standing goal of revising the Constitution to spell out the legal status of the Self-Defense Forces.
In an Asahi Shimbun public opinion poll last month, Takaichi ranked third after former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi as the most suitable person to become LDP president.
In her previous attempt to win the LDP’s top post in 2021, Takaichi ranked second in votes cast by LDP lawmakers, buoyed by the support of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
However, Abe was shot and killed in July 2022, and Takaichi can no longer rely on the backing of LDP lawmakers as she did in the past.
She must now garner support from rank-and-file party members nationwide to succeed Fumio Kishida as LDP president and prime minister.
Originally from Nara Prefecture, Takaichi is a nine-time elected member of the Lower House.
After studying at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management and working at the U.S. Congress, she was first elected to the Diet as an independent in 1993.
She joined the Cabinet for the first time in 2006 as minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs during the first Abe administration.
Takaichi has since held senior positions, including internal affairs minister and chair of the LDP’s Policy Research Council.
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