The factions supporting Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga in his bid to become president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are already vying to secure positions of power after the upcoming election.
The leaders of three major LDP factions -- the biggest Hosoda faction, and the No. 2 Aso and Takeshita factions -- expressed their support for Suga at a joint press conference on Wednesday. This apparently represented a faceoff against the faction led by LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai, which has declared its backing of Suga before any of the others.
The three leaders may be striving to demonstrate the presence of their factions within the party, with an eye on leadership positions within the party, and posts in the Cabinet, following the election.
-- Nikai faction displeased
"It's best to have Suga carry on the operations led by the Abe Cabinet, as the leader of a new administration, since he's supported Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as chief cabinet secretary for seven years and eight months, and battled together with Abe to address all sorts of issues, both domestic and foreign."
So said Hiroyuki Hosoda, a former secretary general of the LDP and now the leader of the Hosoda faction, at the press conference held at the Diet to formally announce his faction's support of Suga. Flanking Hosoda were Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, and Wataru Takeshita, former chairman of the party's General Council, both of whom also lead their own factions.
After Hosoda, Aso and Takeshita also expressed their support for Suga.
It is unusual for the leaders of the LDP's leading factions to appear at a press conference together and show their solidarity regarding a presidential election. The three factions comprise a total of 206 Diet members, giving them a majority of the Diet members belonging to the LDP.
A senior official of the Hosoda faction said the joint press conference was an "action to remove the Nikai faction." Another senior official of the same faction said, "We can't allow just the Nikai faction to get a head start."
Takeo Kawamura, a former chief cabinet secretary and acting leader of the Nikai faction, spoke with Abe at the Prime Minister's Office Wednesday to report his faction's support for Suga.
Asked about the fact that his faction was not asked to be present at the joint press conference, Kawamura said, "Groups that support [Suga] should back him as a united group," showing his displeasure at the approach taken by the Hosoda faction, which Abe comes from.
Before he met with Abe, Kawamura also expressed his concerns to Aso, saying it "would invite unnecessary speculation that we are engaged in a struggle for leadership."
On Wednesday, Nikai also held talks with Mikio Aoki, a former chief cabinet secretary who has strong behind-the-scenes influence in the Takeshita faction, and with Yoshiro Mori, a former prime minister who influences the Hosoda faction. His aim was apparently to check the movements of both the Takeshita and Hosoda factions.
The Nikai faction declared its support for Suga on Aug. 30, ahead of all the other factions and even before Suga announced his intention to run in the presidential election.
This move spurred a rush among the other LDP factions, except for the Kishida and Ishiba factions, to support Suga. Suga has an advantage over his rivals in the presidential race, so there have been comments within the Nikai faction that if a Suga administration is formed, its members can expect some preferential treatment in the fight for posts in the Cabinet and the party leadership.
Signatures of the Diet members who belong to the Nikai faction and have pledged their support for Suga were given to Suga on Wednesday. About the signatures, Nikai told those around him that "This means we will assume the responsibility in the presidential election."
Asked about the aggressive moves among the factions supporting Suga, a midranking Diet member of the Kishida faction said, "Even though the presidential election hasn't started yet, it's already been settled in line with the wishes of the factions. How do the people view the LDP, which looks like it's been returning to what it was before."
The Kishida faction is led by Fumio Kishida, the party's Policy Research Council chairman and also a candidate for president of the LDP.
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