The party faces a credibility deficit that meant it had to skew radical. Outgoing leader Fumio Kishida will be remembered well on the international stage, but bombed domestically, failing to dispel long-running scandals not of his making, and unable to take credit for his victories. Candidates tainted by association, who in a “normal” leadership election might inherit his mantle, had little chance. The times demanded change.
Japan’s ruling party has made its choice — and it’s a stunning upset.
In an unusually hotly contested election, the Liberal Democratic Party, which has held power almost uninterrupted since World War II, was faced with the most varied slate of visions for its future ever seen. The field of nine candidates represented nearly every strand of politics the broad party holds. In the end, it chose Shigeru Ishiba. Now it must contend with what that means.
