September 11, 2025
Tokyo – The presidential election of the Liberal Democrats may be affected by votes from members of the party’s affiliated parties and group members.
Since this will be a comprehensive election, the 295 votes given to the party in the case of regular members nationwide votes, as well as members of the party’s group members – the same number of votes as the LDP legislators – are the key to determining who wins. This may affect the candidate’s strategy.
Since this election will serve as president in Ishiba’s prescribed terms after Islamic resignation, the LDP can choose one and three votes per diet member for the election and three votes per LDP.
But amid concerns over politics, money and other issues, the party has shrunk to 1,028,662 members by the end of last year, with nearly 100,000 down from the end of 2022. This has caused widespread concern that if they cannot vote in the election, more members will leave.
Meanwhile, the game’s period was compressed to just 12 days due to criticism of the political vacuum, down to 12 days from the 15-day period in the last general election in September last year.
Very little time to break through
Due to the limited time to establish support nationwide, many in the party viewed the full-size format as a boon for highly visible candidates such as Gaotu and Okiko.
The final presidential election was a classic example of a comprehensive arrangement and saw a record nine candidates in the run, the most since 1972, when introducing those who want to run need to ensure recognition.
In the first round of voting, the top three candidates Takaichi, Ishiba and Koizumi won 278 of the 368 votes of regular party members, accounting for three-quarters of the total.
Ishiba received only 46 votes from lawmakers, but was still able to get 108 votes from party members with 108 votes and gain a place in runoff.
Like Ishiba, Takaichi lacks a strong foundation among lawmakers and relies heavily on rankings.
Her supporters, including House Member Yamada, have repeatedly argued that a comprehensive leadership election is crucial to the party’s renewal.
Koizumi, who received the most votes from lawmakers in the last election, expressed his knowledge of the method at a press conference. “From the perspective of party members, their honest desire is to reflect their thoughts and to allow the party to undergo a complete renewal,” he said.
Balanced behavior
Candidates will have to talk about the concerns of lawmakers and regular party members and decide how to balance the policies and political beliefs they emphasize.
In the last election, Takaichi, who focused on appealing to conservative members of the party, said she would continue to visit the Yasukuni shrine even after becoming prime minister. This is one of the reasons why some lawmakers who care about diplomatic influence keep their distance from her.
Kausumi suggested scrutiny of workers, but this was seen as “liberalization of layoffs”, which attracted the attention of partisan members.
Veterans like Motegi have held many important positions and can leverage the extensive experience of his political experience, and they may have to decide whether to adopt influential policies and statements to attract party members or prioritize a sense of stability.
