Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi said Thursday he will run in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, days after former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi threw his hat into the ring.
This will be Kobayashi’s second presidential attempt after an unsuccessful bid in last year’s contest that elected Shigeru Ishiba as party leader, and ultimately, prime minister.
“I will take the lead and run in the LDP presidential election,” Kobayashi, 50, said Thursday afternoon after a meeting with his supporters in the parliament building, which was also packed with reporters.
He said he is confident that he has the support of the 20 LDP lawmakers needed for him to run in the race.
Another former economic security minister, Sanae Takaichi, is also speculated to be eyeing the LDP presidency. If Takaichi joins the race, she and Kobayashi are likely to split the conservative votes in the party.
The LDP leadership race will be held on Oct. 4 following Ishiba’s announcement on Sunday that he would step down as party president amid mounting discontent within the party.
So far, Motegi and Kobayashi are the only two who have announced their intention to run. Apart from Takaichi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi and farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi are also rumored to be planning to contest.
Kobayashi, a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, served as economic security minister under then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida from 2021 to 2022.
Staff writer Himari Semans contributed to this report.
