LDP's Tokyo chapter puts off anointing gubernatorial pick until after Upper House election

51吃瓜网 / Politics

LDP’s Tokyo chapter puts off anointing gubernatorial pick until after Upper House election

By Tomohiro Osaki and Reiji Yoshida
Staff Writers

Jul 5, 2016

The Tokyo branch of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party won’t choose its candidate for the July 31 gubernatorial race until after the July 10 Upper House election, chapter head Nobuteru Ishihara said Tuesday.

Ishihara, also the Cabinet minister for fiscal and economic policy, met with former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike and notified her of the policy at the party’s headquarters, Koike told reporters.

Koike, 63, has repeatedly asked the Tokyo chapter to endorse her as the LDP’s candidate.

The postponement underlined the chapter’s inability to unite on a candidate for the gubernatorial election. Tokyo-based LDP executives had initially said they wanted to choose a candidate last weekend.

Ishihara and other chapter executives reportedly favor former Iwate Gov. Hiroya Masuda as their pick.

Masuda served as internal affairs minister under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his first stint in office in 2007.

Koike, meanwhile, has indicated that she will run for the position regardless of whether she has the LDP’s endorsement.

If Koike, currently a Lower House member, runs as an independent, it could split the LDP in the capital, increasing uncertainty in the gubernatorial election.

The postponement until after the Upper House election also means the party will have just four days to choose its candidate. Those running for governor are required to file their candidacy on July 14, the day when the official campaign period starts.

Tokyo is believed to have a large number of swing voters who are not loyal to any particular party.

Winning support of those unaffiliated voters, called muto-ha in Japanese, is considered a key to winning the gubernatorial race.

Koike, a former TV anchorwoman, is better known than Masuda — which could be an advantage in winning swing-voter support — and has used her early entry into the race to take advantage of her name recognition.

LDP chapter executives, however, have been reluctant to back her after she ignored the branch’s earlier decision not to choose a candidate from among current Diet members.