TOKYO (Kyodo) — Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is the top choice to lead the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, a Kyodo News poll of party supporters and lawmakers showed Monday, ahead of its leadership vote on Sept. 23.
Four candidates are vying for the role, with the winner set to guide the left-leaning CDPJ in a general election if the victor of the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Sept. 27 leadership race dissolves the House of Representatives shortly after becoming prime minister.
The telephone survey conducted for two days from Sunday showed Noda — who led Japan from 2011 to 2012 when the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, predecessor of the CDPJ, was in power — with a commanding 58.8 percent backing from party supporters.
Noda aims to shift the center-left party slightly rightward to attract moderate conservatives unhappy with the LDP, which has eroded public trust in politics due to a high-profile slush fund scandal.
In second place among party supporters with 20.9 percent was former CDPJ leader Yukio Edano. The founder of the party, who has emphasized the importance of “grassroots democracy,” is believed to have the backing of the liberal wing within the CDPJ.
Harumi Yoshida, a first-term lower house lawmaker and the only woman in the race, came in third at 7.8 percent. Incumbent leader Kenta Izumi, who struggled to gain the recommendation of 20 party lawmakers to run in the presidential race, was last at 7.6 percent.
Despite strong popularity among CDPJ supporters, interviews with its 136 lawmakers, who hold a significant share of the first-round vote under the party’s election system, suggest Noda’s path is not yet assured, although about 40 expressed backing for him.
Around 30 lawmakers voiced support for Edano, while Yoshida and Izumi each have the backing of about 20 lawmakers. But with around 20 percent of lawmakers yet to decide who they would back in the vote, it remains unclear who will ultimately be chosen as leader.
The CDPJ leader will be selected with the votes of lawmakers and general election candidates accounting for half of the 740 points available. The other half is distributed among local assembly and rank-and-file members who can vote by mail or online in advance.
Should no candidate obtain an outright majority, the top two will enter a runoff to select a winner on the same day.
Ex-PM Yoshihiko Noda top choice to lead Japan’s main opposition party: Kyodo poll
