The 2008 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 22 September 2008 after the incumbent party leader and Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda announced that he would resign on 1 September 2008, only 11 months after taking office on 25 September 2007 following a leadership election on 23 September 2007. Tarō Asō, who had lost to Shinzo Abe in the 2006 leadership election and then again lost to Fukuda in 2007, was widely seen as the frontrunner to replace him, and announced on 2 September 2008 he was ready to take over as party leader.BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japan's Aso 'ready for PM role' Aso won the leadership election against four opponents, receiving 67% of the vote."Aso elected LDP head" , The Yomiuri Shimbun, 22 September 2008.
It was reported that Yuriko Koike, a former defence chief who is seen as close to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, might stand against Aso; in that case, the LDP leadership election would be a decision between the conservative traditionalist Aso and the unorthodox reformist Koike.AFP: Koike eyes bid as Japan's first woman PM Economics minister Kaoru Yosano and former transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara, the son of the controversial right-wing nationalist governor of Tokyo Shintarō Ishihara, also indicated they might run,BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japanese leadership race hots up as did former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, senior vice foreign minister Ichita Yamamoto and former science and economic minister Yasufumi Tanahashi.Search - Global Edition - The New York Times Campaigning began on 10 September 2008; a total of 528 people are eligible to vote (387 Diet members and 141 prefectural representatives).Ishihara, Yosano voice intentions to stand for LDP presidential election - People's Daily Online
To stand in the election, candidates had to gather twenty signatures from electors. Aso formally declared his candidacy on 5 September 2008,Aso formally announces bid for Japan's ruling party presidency - People's Daily Online and Koike on 8 September 2008.Koike kandidiert für Amt des japanischen Regierungschefs (International, NZZ Online) Yosano, Ishiba and Ishihara also filed to run, while Yamamoto and Tanahashi decided not to stand for the leadership.Official campaigning starts to choose new Japanese leader - People's Daily Online Koizumi announced he would support and vote for Koike.Japans Expremier Koizumi will eine Frau an der Macht - Politik - dieStandard.at › Politik
By election day, Aso had secured the votes of at least 60% of the electors and was assumed to win the election in the first round.Aso zum LDP-Vorsitzenden gewählt - Japan - derStandard.at › International
Aso went on to win the election by a landslide 351 votes. Yosano got 66 votes, Koike 46, Ishihara 37 and Ishiba 25.AFP.com - International News, Photos, Videos, Graphics, World Aso was sworn in as Prime Minister on 24 September 2008. Some speculated that a general election would be called on 3 October for 26 October 2008 following the leadership election, but this failed to materialise.Japan Election May Come by November, LDP Strategist Koga Says - Bloomberg.comFünf Kandidaten wollen glücklosen Regierungschef beerben - Japan - derStandard.at › InternationalJapan to dissolve lower house in October for November election - report - Forbes.comJapan's LDP Eyes Election as Early as Oct. 26, Yomiuri Says - Bloomberg.com
Candidates Declared Candidate(s) Date of birth Current position Party faction Electoral district Tarō Asō Member of the House of Representatives Ikōkai (Asō) Fukuoka 8th Kaoru Yosano Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal PolicyMinister of State for Regulatory Reform Member of the House of Representatives Tokyo 1st Yuriko Koike Member of the House of Representatives Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (Machimura) Tokyo 10th Nobuteru Ishihara Member of the House of Representatives Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai (Yamasaki) Tokyo 8th Shigeru Ishiba Member of the House of RepresentativesHeisei Kenkyūkai (Tsushima) Tottori 1st
Supporters Recommenders Party regulations require candidates to have the written support at least 20 Diet members, known as recommenders, to run.
Number of recommenders by factions CandidatesTarō AsōKaoru YosanoYuriko KoikeNobuteru IshiharaShigeru Ishiba10100Banchō Seisaku Kenkyūjo11000Heisei Kenkyūkai240019Ikōkai20000Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai31160Kōchikai26240Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai421140Shisuikai21010No faction35551
Results + Full resultCandidateDiet membersParty membersTotal points Votes % Popular votes % Allocated votes % Votes %Tarō Asō 21756.51% 13495.03% 35166.86%Kaoru Yosano6416.67% 21.42% 6612.57%Yuriko Koike4611.98% 00.00% 468.76%Nobuteru Ishihara369.37% 10.71% 377.05%Shigeru Ishiba215.47% 42.84% 254.76%Total384100.00%141100.00%525100.00%Valid votes38499.48%141100.00%52599.62%Invalid and blank votes20.52%00.00%20.38%Turnout386100.00%141100.00%527100.00%Registered voters386100.00%141100.00%527100.00%
Results of Party Members' Votes by Prefectures + Results of Party Members' Votes by PrefecturesPrefecturesTarō AsōShigeru IshibaKaoru YosanoNobuteru IshiharaYuriko KoikeVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Aichi30000Akita30000Aomori4,91575.9532604.0202323.5905147.9405508.500Chiba30000Ehime30000Fukui30000Fukuoka30000Fukushima30000Gifu30000Gunma30000Hiroshima30000Hokkaido30000Hyōgo30000Ibaraki30000Ishikawa30000Iwate30000Kagawa30000Kagoshima30000Kanagawa30000Kōchi20100Kumamoto30000Kyoto30000Mie30000Miyagi30000Miyazaki30000Nagano30000Nagasaki30000Nara20010Niigata30000Ōita30000Okayama30000Okinawa30000Osaka30000Saga30000Saitama30000Shiga30000Shimane21000Shizuoka30000Tochigi30000Tokushima20100Tokyo30000Tottori03000Toyama30000Wakayama30000Yamagata30000Yamaguchi30000Yamanashi30000Total1344210
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