- ARAB NEWS
- 03 May 2024
Since 1975
TOKYO: In a survey of Japanese voters, 23 percent of those who responded said they want Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio replaced “immediately” with veteran conservative politician ISHIBA Shigeru the most popular candidate to take over the top job in Japanese politics.
Fourteen percent said they would be happy for Kishida to continue in his position “as long as possible,” while 57 percent said he should retain his post until his term as president of the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party ends next year.
In the survey, the most popular politician to become the next prime minister of Japan was Ishiba, although he was only the top choice with 16 percent in the poll run by the JNN TV Network on August 5 and 6.
Ishiba, a veteran politician who was previously Minister of Defense and who was also the ruling party’s Secretary-General, has run unsuccessfully for the top post several times. He is not alone in being popular with the Japanese public but less so within the LDP itself.
KONO Taro, the current digital minister is another popular politician and ranked almost as high as Ishiba in the JNN survey.
Close behind in the poll on 14 percent was 42-year-old KOIZUMI Shinjiro, the son of former Prime Minister KOIZUMI Junichiro and a former Minister of the Environment. He has been very popular with the general public for many years – he’s young, good looking and is married to a famous, half-French newscaster – but has yet to convince his fellow politicians he is the right man for the top job.
Right-wing politician TAKAICHI Sanae, the Minister for Economic Security, came fourth in the poll with 6 percent, followed by the current prime minister, Kishida, with 5 percent of the votes.
Among those getting 2 percent of the votes were three LDP politicians: MOTEGI Toshimitsu, the LDP Secretary-General who is the most ambitious to replace Kishida; NODA Seiko, former Minister in Charge of Declining Birthrate; and HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs.
