The Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held amid the unusual circumstance of it being in the minority in both Diet chambers.

Sanae Takaichi, the former economic security minister, defeated Shinjiro Koizumi, the farm minister, in the runoff.

In the 70th anniversary year of its founding, the LDP has a female head for the first time.

Takaichi will become the first female prime minister in Japan if she is chosen in the soon-to- be-convened Diet session.

Based on her long-held views, there are concerns over whether Takaichi can maintain fiscal discipline and build relations with Asian nations, including China and South Korea.

Her capabilities as a leader will be severely tested as she seeks to avoid social fragmentation by thinking about the interests of all the people, rather than those conservative elements that strongly support her.

LDP SHOWED INABILITY TO CHANGE

While Takaichi received fewer LDP lawmaker votes than Koizumi in the first round of voting, she emerged as the top vote-getter by garnering about 40 percent of the local votes cast by rank-and-file party members and supporters.

In the runoff, Takaichi bested Koizumi both in lawmaker and prefectural chapter votes, leading to her winning the party president’s post on her third try.

In last year’s party presidential election, after receiving the most votes in the first round, she proceeded to the runoff where she lost to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

At that time, it was said that LDP lawmakers were negatively affected by her strong conservative stance.

But that was not apparently the case this time.

There were likely many lawmakers who placed importance on the will of ordinary party members and supporters.

Similarly, there might have been some who were concerned about the abilities of Koizumi, who is still young at 44 and has little Cabinet ministerial experience, or did not want the baton to be passed to the younger generation.

There is the possibility that the requests by the Koizumi camp to post positive messages to videos posted on social media may have also had an effect.

In its assessment of the defeat in this summer’s Upper House election, the LDP gave as one factor the move of some conservative voters to other parties.

Because Takaichi had close ties with the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, her victory may be a sign that the LDP wants to recapture those supporters who voted for Sanseito and other parties.

But, if the LDP is to stand by its claim of being the people’s party, it will not be allowed to focus only on certain sectors of society.

The LDP has said it would undertake a drastic review to resuscitate itself and one theme of the presidential election was to show a party capable of change.

But debates held during the election campaign left the strong impression of an LDP that cannot change.

There was very little discussion about looking more deeply into the accumulation of huge amounts of cash by LDP factions through fund-raising parties, which was a major cause of the loss of public trust in the party, or about reviewing political donations by companies and organizations.

Very little was also said about the future vision of the nation or what direction it should pursue.

There was no stance of conducting discussions without fear of bringing out differences because priority was placed on party unity and cooperation with opposition parties.

DOUBTS ABOUT TAKAICHI'S INNATE QUALITIES

In the latter stages of the election campaign, signs of the LDP of the past, when factions and party elders held sway, emerged as many of the candidates met with Taro Aso, party supreme adviser, and former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, to seek their support.

Such acts will not help regain public trust.

Past editorials in The Asahi Shimbun have strongly criticized Takaichi on several occasions for her comments and actions.

For example, when Takaichi served as LDP policy chief during Abe’s second stint as prime minister, she said she was not totally comfortable with the inclusion of wording referring to an invasion in the statement released on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II under the name of then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.

An Asahi editorial of that time pointed out her comment raising doubts about the statement damaged the foundation for constructing a future-oriented relationship with neighboring nations.

As internal affairs minister, Takaichi gave responses to Diet questioning that differed from past views about political fairness in TV programs.

An Asahi editorial asked that she retract the comment because it might lead to undue pressure on reporting.

Takaichi has visited Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes 14 Class-A war criminals, on Aug. 15, marking the end of World War II, on a number of occasions even when she served as a Cabinet minister.

In last year’s LDP presidential election, she clearly said she would visit Yasukuni if she became prime minister.

She avoided such a clear stance this time, only saying she would make the appropriate decision at the appropriate time, but that may have only been to avoid causing an uproar.

Policy toward foreigners has become a political focal point in the wake of major gains made by Sanseito in the Upper House election based on its "Japanese First" slogan.

In the LDP presidential election campaign, Takaichi made comments regarding foreigners, such as that foreign tourists kicked deer in Nara Park and that she often heard that arrested foreigners were often not indicted due to a lack of interpreters.

She said she would think about relations with foreigners from scratch.

Such comments must be described as problematic because it could encourage xenophobia.

At the same time, we also feel the danger in having political leaders make declarations based on vague criteria.

DO NOT RUSH INTO COALITION TALKS

Takaichi intends to quickly choose LDP executives and to enter into discussions with opposition parties about joining the coalition.

She likely wants to bring stability to the government instead of seeking out cooperative partners depending on the policy area.

Although she has said she wanted opposition parties to join the coalition when she formed her Cabinet, future problems will arise if she speedily pushes forward with a predetermined deadline.

As an advocate of aggressive fiscal policy, Takaichi has indicated she would not hesitate to increase issuance of deficit bonds.

But responsibility to future generations cannot be fulfilled if priority is placed on obtaining the required number of seats for a majority while ignoring the securing of a stable revenue source.

Another concern is that she did not lay out a specific vision during the presidential election campaign about foreign affairs and national security.

She will be tasked with facing the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who belittles alliances, as well as dealing with South Korea and China.

In his news conference announcing his intention to step down as prime minister, Ishiba said the LDP had to be a true people’s party that emphasized toleration and inclusion as a conservative party.

The LDP’s raison d’etre must be redefined in a time of distrust toward established parties and the spread of new parties.

Takaichi has the extremely heavy responsibility of squarely facing the spreading dissatisfaction among the people, particularly those in the working-age population, while seeking to prevent the widening economic gap and social fragmentation.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 5