The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is set to hold its extraordinary party convention in Tokyo on Monday, where the next party leader will be chosen. According to research conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun, former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is currently leading the race with support from 40 lawmakers, accounting for approximately 30% of the total. Former CDPJ President Yukio Edano is ranked second, while current President Kenta Izumi and House of Representatives member Harumi Yoshida have not received significant levels of support from party lawmakers.
In this leadership election, candidates are competing for a total of 740 points. Each CDPJ Diet lawmaker has two ballot points, with a total of 272 ballot points available. The Yomiuri Shimbun’s research indicates that Noda has likely gained support from 40 party lawmakers (80 points), Edano has gained support from 24 members (48 points), and Izumi and Yoshida have each gained support from 19 members (38 points). However, there are still 34 CDPJ lawmakers who have not clarified their voting intentions.
Even when considering ballot points from local assembly members, rank-and-file party members, and fraternity party members, it is unlikely that any candidate will be able to secure a simple majority of the total ballot points at 371. Therefore, it is highly probable that a runoff between the top two earners in terms of ballot points will be necessary.
In addition to incumbent party Diet members, there are also scheduled CDPJ-endorsed candidates for future elections who have one ballot point each in the first round of voting. A further allocation of 185 ballot points goes to CDPJ local assembly members as well as other party and supporting members.
During the runoff phase, party Diet members will continue to have two ballot points each while scheduled election candidates and representatives from all prefectures will have one point each. The contenders in this stage will compete for a total of 417 ballot points.
