Starting Gun Effectively Fired for LDP Presidential Race

Tokyo, June 23 (Jiji Press)--With Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida having decided not to dissolve the House of Representatives during the ordinary parliamentary session through Sunday, key members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are stepping up moves toward the party's presidential race expected to take place in September.

LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, former party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba and other possible successors to Kishida as LDP president are actively holding meetings with fellow party members.

There are also some LDP members who are seeking a young or female leader to renew the image of the party in the wake of a high-profile political funds scandal involving LDP factions.

While Kishida, whose current term as LDP president will expire in September, is eager to seek re-election, the starting gun has been effectively fired on the leadership race.

"Failure is not the opposite of success. Not trying is" the antonym, Motegi said Wednesday in a speech at a meeting of a group of lawmakers who were first elected to the House of Representatives, the lower parliamentary chamber, in the 2012 election.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]