Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Ishiba as New Leader and Prime Minister

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has picked a former defense minister, Shigeru Ishiba, as its new leader and the next prime minister. Ishiba, 67, will replace Fumio Kishida, who announced last month he would be stepping down as prime minister as a series of corruption scandals saw support for the LDP drop below 20 percent. Nine candidates stood for the position, and Ishiba won the internal party vote, defeating Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, and Shinjiro Koizumi, the 43-year-old son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. It was the fifth time that Ishiba—who has been in the Japanese Parliament since 1986 and was defense minister between 2007 and 2008—had bid for the leadership of the party....