Tokyo: Japan has now got a new Prime Minister in the form of Shigeru Ishiba. Japan's ruling party has today elected Shigeru Ishiba as its leader. Now he will take charge next week. Let us tell you that Ishiba was technically elected as the new leader of the party through voting in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Now his election as the Prime Minister is certain in the proposed voting in Parliament next week, because the party's ruling coalition has a majority in both houses. Nine candidates including two women were in the fray in this party election.

Ishiba was elected by party lawmakers and grassroots members through voting. Current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is surrounded by corruption allegations and his party is looking for a new leader in the hope of gaining public confidence before the next general election. Apart from LDP members of Parliament, only about 1 million dues-paying party members could take part in the voting. This number is only one percent of the country's total eligible voters. Given the ongoing internal talks and possibilities of compromise among party veterans, it was difficult to predict who would have the upper hand in this election. According to initial estimates by NHK television, Shigeru Ishiba, Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi were ahead in the race. Ishiba was also reported to be leading in media surveys.

Takaichi, a close aide of former PM Shinzo Abe, missed

Takaichi has been close to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and is considered a staunch conservative. She contested against Kishida in 2021. Koizumi is the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. In previous elections, the leader was often determined by the leaders of the party's powerful faction, but this time all but one of the six factions have announced a merger following corruption allegations. There is widespread concern among experts that whoever wins the election but does not get factional support, there is a possibility that Japan may once again return to the 2000s. During this period there were many leadership changes and political instability in the country. Japanese prime ministers heading short-term governments harm the ability to set long-term policy goals or develop trusted relationships with other leaders. Takaichi and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa were the only two women in the race.

Japan PM Kishida will resign

Women make up only 10.3 percent of Japan's lower house of parliament. Japan ranks 163rd out of 190 countries in terms of female representation, according to a report released in April by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union. Kishida and his cabinet ministers will resign on Tuesday. Despite the LDP's scandals, the main opposition and liberal-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is struggling to strengthen its position. But experts say its newly elected leader Yoshihiko Noda is pushing a conservative shift for the party and could shape a broader political restructuring. Noda is a former prime minister of Japan and is considered a centrist leader. (AP) 

Who is Shigeru Ishiba?

Shigeru Ishiba is Japan's former defense minister. He is very fond of books. Ishiba reads three books a day. After four previous failed attempts, 67-year-old Ishiba has reached the top of the Liberal Democratic Party, which considers itself a loner. This party has ruled Japan for most of the last seven decades. Ishiba has taken charge of the party in crisis, public support has been declining in the last two years due to revelations of ties to a church called a cult by critics and a scandal over unrecorded donations. He first reached parliament in 1986. But outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sidelined him for the time being and instead became a voice of dissent in the party. Ishiba said - "I consider this my last battle. He started his campaign at a Shinto shrine in rural Tottori Prefecture. Ishiba's father was the governor here and Ishiba started his political career at the peak of Japan's booming bubble economy.