Japan's next prime minister is likely to be the nation's first female leader or the youngest premier in 140 years as the ruling party held a runoff vote for leader on Saturday.
The Liberal Democratic Party was choosing between hardline nationalist Sanae Takaichi, 64, and the telegenic political scion Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, to regain trust from a public angered by rising prices and drawn to opposition groups promising big stimulus and clampdowns on foreigners.
The runoff is expected to conclude around 0600 GMT. A vote in parliament to choose a prime minister to replace Shigeru Ishiba is expected to be held on Oct. 15.
Various other parties, including the fiscally expansionist Democratic Party for the People and the anti-immigration Sanseito have been steadily luring voters, especially younger ones, away from the LDP.
Takaichi, the only woman among the five LDP candidates, came out top in a first round with 183 votes to Koizumi's 164, but both were short of a majority. Her advantage is expected to slip in the runoff where there are fewer votes by rank-and-file members, who tend to break for her.
Koizumi, by contrast, has stronger backing among lawmakers who have 295 votes in the second round compared to 47 votes from rank-and-file members, one for each prefecture.
"The LDP must rebuild, restore the people's trust and move forward," Koizumi said in a speech ahead of the runoff vote, lamenting the "immaturity" that he said contributed to him falling short in a leadership race last year.
"I may still have shortcomings, but what I became convinced of through this leadership election is that the LDP still has the strength to serve the people of this nation," he said.
If selected, Koizumi would be a few months older than Hirobumi Ito when he became Japan's first prime minister in 1885, under the nation's prewar constitution.
SENSE OF URGENCY
The winner will inherit a party in crisis.
"Recently, I have heard harsh voices from across the country saying we don't know what the LDP stands for anymore," said Takaichi in her speech before the second round vote.
"That sense of urgency drove me. I wanted to turn people's anxieties about their daily lives and the future into hope," she added.
Takaichi, who says her hero is Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister, offers a starker vision for change than Koizumi and is potentially more disruptive.
An advocate of late premier Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" strategy to jolt the economy with aggressive spending and easy monetary policy, she has previously criticised the Bank of Japan's interest rate increases.
Such a policy shift could spook investors worried about one of the world's biggest debt loads.
Farm Minister Koizumi promises to boost wages and provide relief to households struggling with inflation - but within the fiscal restraints set by Ishiba and other recent administrations.
Takaichi has also raised the possibility of redoing an investment deal with U.S. President Donald Trump that lowered his punishing tariffs in return for Japanese taxpayer-backed investment. Koizumi has defended the deal.
Her nationalistic positions - such as her regular visits to the Yasukuni shrine to Japan's war dead, viewed by some Asian neighbours as a symbol of its past militarism - may rile South Korea and China.
She also favours revising Japan's pacifist postwar constitution and suggested this year that Japan could form a "quasi-security alliance" with Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China.
If elected, Takaichi said she would travel overseas more regularly than her predecessor to spread the word that "Japan is Back!"
The winner is expected to hold a press conference around 0900 GMT.
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The Liberal Democratic Party was choosing between hardline nationalist Sanae Takaichi, 64, and the telegenic political scion Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, to regain trust from a public angered by rising prices and drawn to opposition groups promising big stimulus and clampdowns on foreigners.
The runoff is expected to conclude around 0600 GMT. A vote in parliament to choose a prime minister to replace Shigeru Ishiba is expected to be held on Oct. 15.
ADVANTAGE KOIZUMI IN SECOND ROUND
The new LDP president is likely to succeed Ishiba as leader of the world's fourth-biggest economy because the party, which has governed Japan for almost all the postwar period, is the biggest in parliament. But this is not assured as the party and its coalition partner lost their majorities in both houses under Ishiba in the past year.Various other parties, including the fiscally expansionist Democratic Party for the People and the anti-immigration Sanseito have been steadily luring voters, especially younger ones, away from the LDP.
Takaichi, the only woman among the five LDP candidates, came out top in a first round with 183 votes to Koizumi's 164, but both were short of a majority. Her advantage is expected to slip in the runoff where there are fewer votes by rank-and-file members, who tend to break for her.
Koizumi, by contrast, has stronger backing among lawmakers who have 295 votes in the second round compared to 47 votes from rank-and-file members, one for each prefecture.
"The LDP must rebuild, restore the people's trust and move forward," Koizumi said in a speech ahead of the runoff vote, lamenting the "immaturity" that he said contributed to him falling short in a leadership race last year.
"I may still have shortcomings, but what I became convinced of through this leadership election is that the LDP still has the strength to serve the people of this nation," he said.
If selected, Koizumi would be a few months older than Hirobumi Ito when he became Japan's first prime minister in 1885, under the nation's prewar constitution.
SENSE OF URGENCY
The winner will inherit a party in crisis.
"Recently, I have heard harsh voices from across the country saying we don't know what the LDP stands for anymore," said Takaichi in her speech before the second round vote.
"That sense of urgency drove me. I wanted to turn people's anxieties about their daily lives and the future into hope," she added.
Takaichi, who says her hero is Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister, offers a starker vision for change than Koizumi and is potentially more disruptive.
An advocate of late premier Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" strategy to jolt the economy with aggressive spending and easy monetary policy, she has previously criticised the Bank of Japan's interest rate increases.
Such a policy shift could spook investors worried about one of the world's biggest debt loads.
Farm Minister Koizumi promises to boost wages and provide relief to households struggling with inflation - but within the fiscal restraints set by Ishiba and other recent administrations.
Takaichi has also raised the possibility of redoing an investment deal with U.S. President Donald Trump that lowered his punishing tariffs in return for Japanese taxpayer-backed investment. Koizumi has defended the deal.
Her nationalistic positions - such as her regular visits to the Yasukuni shrine to Japan's war dead, viewed by some Asian neighbours as a symbol of its past militarism - may rile South Korea and China.
She also favours revising Japan's pacifist postwar constitution and suggested this year that Japan could form a "quasi-security alliance" with Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China.
If elected, Takaichi said she would travel overseas more regularly than her predecessor to spread the word that "Japan is Back!"
The winner is expected to hold a press conference around 0900 GMT.
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