Election for the ruling party's chairman is tense until the last minute
On the afternoon of August 29, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan will hold an election for the party's chairman, who will become the new Prime Minister of Japan.
Over the past two days, a campaign has been launched by five candidates to win the support of the 398 Democratic members of Congress who have the right to vote in this election. However, no candidate has gained a clear advantage ahead of this election. This is expected to be a tight election until the last minute.
Japanese Minister of Economy and Industry Banri Kaieda
continue to dominate (Photo: Getty)
Among the five candidates, Minister of Economy and Industry Kaieda continues to dominate thanks to the support of former Secretary General Ozawa. However, observers say it is very difficult for Mr. Kaieda to win more than half of the total votes to win in the first round of voting.
According to the rules of the Democratic Party of Japan, when no one wins a majority, the two candidates with the highest number of votes will participate in a decisive second round. Currently, Finance Minister Noda and former Foreign Minister Maehara are competing fiercely for the second position.
Faced with the high possibility that no one will win a majority, the candidates have begun preparations for the second round of the election. In addition to continuing to appeal to the approximately 90 undecided MPs, the candidates are also trying to persuade MPs who have expressed their support for other candidates to gain their support in the second round of the election. This appeal and persuasion campaign is continuing until close to the voting time.
Although Economy and Industry Minister Kaieda is almost certain to win the most votes in the first round, observers say the election results will be difficult to predict if a second round is held.
The two candidates competing for the second position, Finance Minister Noda and former Foreign Minister Maehara, are both part of the bloc that is considered anti-former Secretary General Ozawa, who supports Mr. Kaieda. Therefore, whether Mr. Noda or Mr. Maehara makes it to the second round, it is almost certain that the lawmakers who support these two will vote for that person to prevent the possibility of restoring power to former Secretary General Ozawa. At that time, the balance of support for the two candidates who make it to the second round will become even. Therefore, the result of the election for the President of the Democratic Party of Japan will only be known when the second round of votes is counted.
According to VOV
