自民じみん総裁そうさい選せん 小泉こいずみ農相のうしょう 立候補りっこうほを正式せいしき表明ひょうめい「自民党じみんとうを立たて直なおす」

Regarding the Liberal Democratic Partys presidential election to choose a successor to Prime Minister Ishiba, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Koizumi officially announced his candidacy, stating that he would take the lead in addressing the publics concerns and advancing policies.

This is Mr. Koizumis second attempt at the party leadership election.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Koizumi held a press conference in Tokyo on the morning of the 20th.

In this context, Mr. Koizumi commented on the current situation in which the ruling party has lost its majority in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, saying, They failed to face the anxieties of the people and lacked empathy for those suffering from rising prices.

Listen to the voices of the people once again, sense their feelings, and face their anxieties.

I will run in the party leadership election with the determination to take the lead in rebuilding the Liberal Democratic Party into a party that can deliver the peace of mind and safety the people seek.

And, First and foremost, we need to listen to the earnest voices of the people who are struggling with the rising cost of living.

We will immediately consider economic measures focusing on countering rising prices and submit a supplementary budget bill to the extraordinary Diet session to back them up, he said, indicating that implementing economic measures would be his top priority.

Specifically, this includes promptly abolishing the provisional gasoline tax rate, introducing a system to adjust the basic income tax deduction and other measures in line with rising prices and wages to increase take-home pay and raise the income ceiling, as well as improving the treatment of workers in healthcare, nursing care, childcare, welfare, and education beyond the rate of price increases. It is stated that funding sources will be considered flexibly, including utilizing increased tax revenues and expenditure reforms.

In terms of economic policy, a new approach to economic management to address inflation has been introduced, aiming for 135 trillion yen in domestic investment and an average wage increase of one million yen by fiscal year 2030.

Additionally, it includes measures for regional revitalization and the expansion of exports of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, as well as the establishment of a safety net for rice policy that ensures producers incomes and allows them to work on increasing production without anxiety.

The Ishiba administration will continue its disaster prevention initiatives, such as the establishment of a Disaster Prevention Agency, which it places great importance on. It is also advocating for strengthening the command function regarding foreign national issues and formulating an action plan within the year, as well as enhancing public safety measures such as countermeasures against stalkers.

In diplomacy and security, it aims to steadily strengthen defense capabilities and to expand cooperation with a variety of like-minded countries, centering on the Japan-U.S. alliance and including South Korea, India, and Australia.

Furthermore, they aim to promote discussions on constitutional amendment, create an environment where issues of politics and money do not arise by thoroughly ensuring the transparency of political funds, and once again hold nationwide dialogue meetings to hear the real voices of the people—an initiative advanced by then-President Tanigaki during the partys time in opposition—in order to unite the Liberal Democratic Party and move politics forward.

Mr. Koizumis bid for the party leadership election is his second time following last year.

《Mr. Koizumis Profile》Shinjiro Koizumi is a six-term member of the House of Representatives, elected from Kanagawas 11th district, and is 44 years old.

This is my second attempt at the presidential election, following last year.

After graduating from university, he worked as a researcher at the American think tank CSIS Center for Strategic and International Studies, and then served as secretary to his father, Junichiro Koizumi, the former Prime Minister.

In the 2009 House of Representatives election, he ran as the successor to Mr. Junichiro and was elected for the first time at the young age of 28.

As the chairman of the partys Agriculture and Forestry Division, he worked on agricultural cooperative reforms and also focused on child-rearing support, proposing the introduction of a Childrens Insurance system that would effectively make early childhood education free by using insurance premiums as a funding source.

In 2019, he joined the cabinet for the first time as Minister of the Environment at the age of 38, making him the third youngest since the war in the Abe Cabinet, and was reappointed in the Suga Cabinet.

He has long been regarded as one of the future candidates for Prime Minister, and his moves have always attracted attention in the partys leadership elections.

Last year, I ran for the party leadership election for the first time and received the most votes from members of parliament among the nine candidates in the first round of voting, but overall, I finished third and was defeated without advancing to the runoff.

With the inauguration of the Ishiba administration, he was appointed as the partys Election Strategy Committee Chairman, but he resigned, stating that he wanted to take responsibility for the defeat in the subsequent House of Representatives election.

After that, he served as the secretary-general of the party’s Political Reform Headquarters, and this May, he was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, succeeding Taku Eto, who resigned over remarks concerning rice. He has since worked to stabilize rice prices, including making the decision to release reserve rice.

I have consistently remained unaffiliated with any faction, but I have a close relationship with former Prime Minister Suga, who belongs to the same Kanagawa prefectural chapter.