- Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election, 2008
A leadership election was held in the Liberal Democratic Party of
Japan on22 September 2008 after the incumbent party leader andPrime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda announced that he would resign on1 September 2008 , only 11 months after taking office on25 September 2007 following a leadership election on23 September 2007 .Taro Aso , who had lost to Fukuda in the 2007 leadership election, was widely seen as the frontrunner to replace him, [http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/01/asia/japan.php] and announced on2 September 2008 he was ready to take over as party leader. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7593176.stm] Aso won the leadership election against four opponents, receiving 67% of the vote. [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080922dy04.htm "Aso elected LDP head"] , "The Yomiuri Shimbun", 22 September 2008.]It was reported that
Yuriko Koike , a former defence chief who is seen as close to former Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi , might stand against Aso; in that case, the LDP leadership election would be a decision between the conservative traditionalist Aso and the unorthodox reformist Koike. [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iBMSSf5Mf84FR-i4fUh0NJ-gQV5A] Economics ministerKaoru Yosano and former transport ministerNobuteru Ishihara , the son of the controversial right-wing nationalist governor ofTokyo Shintarō Ishihara , also indicated they might run, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7597562.stm] as did former defence ministerShigeru Ishiba , senior vice foreign ministerIchita Yamamoto and former science and economic ministerYasufumi Tanahashi . [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/07/asia/AS-Japan-Politics.php] Campaigning began on10 September 2008 ; [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gRrKci45O-Xg9CEOqIoQqNz_kafAD92UGBKO0] a total of 528 people are eligible to vote (387 Diet members and 141 prefectural representatives). [http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6493304.html]To stand in the election, candidates had to gather twenty signatures from electors. Aso formally declared his candidacy on
5 September 2008 , [http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6493933.html] and Koike on8 September 2008 . [http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/international/koike_kandidatur_japan_1.826541.html] Yosano, Ishiba and Ishihara also filed to run, while Yamamoto and Tanahashi decided not to stand for the leadership. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4721660.ece] [http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6496861.html] Koizumi announced he would support and vote for Koike. [http://diestandard.at/?url=/?id=1220458002228]By election day, Aso had secured the votes of at least 60% of the electors and was assumed to win the election in the first round. [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1220458650612]
Aso went on to win the election by a landslide 351 votes. Yosano got 66 votes, Koike 46, Ishihara 37 and Ishiba 25. [http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/newsmlmmd.f211f178f3200b11cc14baa44acfe7bf.271.html] Aso will be sworn in as Prime Minister on
24 September 2008 . A general election will be called on3 October for26 October 2008 following the leadership election. [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=agXKceQiFfhg&refer=japan] [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1220457615788] [http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/09/07/afx5397371.html] [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=acZUygE1c8o0&refer=japan]Past leadership elections
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Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election, 2007 References
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