Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is unlikely to field its own candidate in the Tokyo gubernatorial race in July, while considering supporting the incumbent, Yuriko Koike, if she seeks a third four-year term, LDP sources said Tuesday.
The development comes after the conservative LDP, headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, lost three seats in House of Representatives by-elections late last month, with a political funds scandal significantly undermining public trust in the party.
The gubernatorial race has drawn public attention as voters can directly elect the leader of Tokyo from a diverse range of candidates, often including celebrities such as athletes, comedians, journalists, novelists and former lawmakers.
With concerns growing that Kishida's leadership could weaken further if the LDP loses the gubernatorial race in the capital following the lower house by-elections, his aides have been inclined to avoid a possible confrontation with Koike, the sources said.
Koike, a former newscaster who became Japan's first female defense minister in 2007 when she served as an LDP lawmaker, has not yet declared her candidacy for the July 7 gubernatorial race, for which official campaigning starts on June 20.
In the previous race in 2020, which was held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Koike secured reelection as an independent candidate. But her popularity is believed to be waning, evidenced by the crushing defeat of a candidate she backed in the by-election in Tokyo.
Koike, who became the first female Tokyo governor in 2016, has been accused by one of her former aides of lying about graduating from Cairo University in Egypt and faking her diploma. She has claimed to have been an Arabic translator.
In the by-elections in April, the LDP did not field candidates in the Tokyo No. 15 and Nagasaki No. 3 districts, while failing to defend its seat in the Shimane No. 1 constituency in the western prefecture, known as a traditional conservative stronghold.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan won all three seats previously held by the LDP. The left-leaning party plans to nominate its own candidate in the upcoming Tokyo governorship race.
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