自民党じみんとう 臨時りんじ総裁そうさい選せんの実施じっしに賛成さんせい・慎重しんちょうの意見いけんは NHK日曜にちよう討論とうろん

Whether or not an extraordinary presidential election will be held by the Liberal Democratic Party will be decided on the 8th. Ahead of this, four LDP lawmakers appeared on NHKs Sunday Debate and exchanged opinions from both supporting and cautious stances regarding the holding of the presidential election.

Prime Minister Ishiba has expressed his intention to remain in office. On the 8th, within the Liberal Democratic Party, lawmakers and representatives of prefectural chapters seeking an extraordinary presidential election will submit written requests and otherwise indicate their intentions. Whether or not the election will be held will be determined by whether their total reaches a majority.

Four Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers exchanged opinions on this in an NHK Sunday Debate program.

Tamura, former Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, who is in favor of implementing this, said, If possible, it would be better for the party to be united if the matter is settled before the voting takes place.

If, during this past month and a half, coalition negotiations with the opposition parties had taken place and there had been a clearer picture of the direction in which the extraordinary Diet session would move forward, the voices within the party would not have become this loud, he said.

In favor - Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Sasagawa Additionally, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Sasagawa said, After losing the election, we have been driven into a very difficult situation as a minority ruling party in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. In such circumstances, how should we move politics forward?

In order to respond to the will of the people, we should establish a party unity system as soon as possible, and a presidential election is necessary in that process, he said.

On the other hand, former Defense Minister Inada, who takes a cautious stance on implementation, said, People in the local area are saying, Is this really the time to be holding a party leadership election?

I hear people asking, What a naive country, doing only inward-looking things.

If youre saying Take responsibility and resign as Prime Minister, then what happens next?

He said, We cant move forward if you just say resign without showing who will be the leader and what will happen.

Former Reconstruction Minister Hirasawa also said, Out of the three-year term for the party president, only one year has passed, so why does there need to be a replacement?

If you lose an election, its your own responsibility, and blaming the Prime Minister is completely out of line.

The actions of the old factions are undermining trust in the Liberal Democratic Party, and I want those connected to the old factions to step back, he said.