Ex-Defense chief Ishiba plans to run in LDP leadership race

Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the leading candidate among the public for the next prime minister, said Saturday he intends to run in the presidential election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September.

Ishiba, elected from a constituency in Tottori Prefecture, said at a gathering of the LDP chapter of the prefecture that he “wants to change this country and it will start from Tottori Prefecture.”

The former LDP secretary-general said he will officially announce his bid in Tottori, though he stopped short of specifying the timing.

When asked by reporters whether it is safe to assume he had decided to run in the LDP leadership election, Ishiba said, “That’s fine.”

A Kyodo News poll last week showed Ishiba was ranked first among lawmakers considered suitable to be the LDP’s next leader, backed by 28.4 percent of respondents.

He is far ahead of former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, with support from 12.7 percent, and Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, with 10.4 percent.

Prime Minister Fumiho Kishida, the current party head whose Cabinet continues to suffer from low approval ratings, was ranked sixth with 7.5 percent support. He has yet to formally announce his decision on the upcoming presidential race.

This will be Ishiba’s fifth attempt to lead the party. Currently serving his 12th term as a House of Representatives member, he has long been a favorite among the public to become Japan’s next prime minister but is less popular with the party’s lawmakers.

He indicated earlier that he would officially declare around the Bon summer holidays in mid-August if he decides to run.

The son of a former Tottori governor, Ishiba, a soft-spoken security hawk, worked as a banker before winning a seat in the lower house in 1986 as an LDP candidate. He left the party in 1993 for the now-defunct Japan Renewal Party and the New Frontier Party before returning to the LDP in 1997.