Ex-defence minister Ishiba to lead Japan’s ruling party and become PM next week

Japan’s ruling party has picked former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba as leader, setting him up to become prime minister next week.

The party leadership win is a ticket to the top job because the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) ruling coalition currently controls the parliament.

Considered a defence policy expert, Mr Ishiba secured a come-from-behind win against economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch conservative who hoped to become the country’s first female prime minister.

The LDP, which has enjoyed nearly unbroken rule since the Second World War, may have seen Mr Ishiba’s more centrist views as crucial in pushing back challenges by the liberal-leaning opposition and winning voter support as the party reels from corruption scandals that drove down outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s popularity.

After his victory was announced, Mr Ishiba stood up, waved and bowed repeatedly.

“I will devote all my body and soul to making Japan a safe and secure country where everyone can live smiling,” he told legislators.

Mr Ishiba is expected to call a general election to try to capitalise on his win, but it is unclear when.

He has proposed an Asian version of the Nato military alliance and a more equal Japan-US security alliance, including having Japanese Self -Defence Forces bases in the United States.

Mr Ishiba is a supporter of Taiwan’s democracy.

He also advocates the establishment of a disaster management agency in one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

Mr Ishiba, first elected to parliament in 1986, has served as defence minister, agriculture minister and in other key cabinet posts, and was LDP secretary general under former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

But he has long been viewed with wariness by powerful conservatives in his party.

The 67-year-old former banker was running in the party leadership race for a fifth time and had said this was going to be his “final battle”.

A hawk on defence issues, Mr Ishiba has riled some party leaders by supporting measures to improve gaps between men and women and legalising same-sex marriage.

A record nine legislators, including two women, ran in the vote decided by LDP members of parliament and about one million dues-paying party members.

That is only 1% of the country’s eligible voters.

Some experts believe that party turmoil could mean that Japan will return to an era similar to the early 2000s, which saw “revolving door” leadership changes and political instability.

A succession of short-lived governments hurts Japanese prime ministers’ ability to set up long-term policy goals or develop trusted relations with other leaders.

On Tuesday, Mr Kishida and his cabinet ministers will resign.

Mr Ishiba, after being formally elected in a parliamentary vote, will then form a new cabinet later in the day.

Mr Kishida congratulated Mr Ishiba on his victory and said his election is the first step for a new LDP.

“LDP will reborn, and will live up to the people’s expectations and achieve results,” he said.

As Japan faces security tension in the region and elsewhere, it must step up its own defence power and ties with the United States “and help the world become a place of co-operation instead of divisions,” Mr Kishida said.

“I will support the new administration with all my strength,” he said.

The main opposition – the liberal-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan – has struggled to build momentum, despite the LDP scandals.

But experts say its newly elected leader, centrist former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, is pushing a conservative shift for the party and could trigger broader political regroupings.