Shigeru Ishibi will be elected as the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and will become the Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote next week, which is considered certain since the ruling coalition controls both chambers.
In the first round of voting, none of the five party leader candidates received a majority, leading to a new round where Shigeru Ishibi and the Minister for Economic Security, Sanae Takaichi, faced off against each other on Friday. Shigeru Ishibi emerged victorious from the election.
The outgoing Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, has held the position since October 2021. However, his and the party's popularity have plummeted sharply as rising prices affect the population's economy and several corruption scandals have been linked to him.
