Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the Liberal Democratic Party, plans to appoint Seiji Kihara as new chairman of the ruling party's Election Strategy Committee, several party sources said Wednesday.
Kihara, 54, is expected to succeed outgoing election committee head Shinjiro Koizumi in line with the launch next week of Ishiba's second Cabinet. Koizumi is resigning to take the blame for the LDP's stunning defeat in the Oct. 27 election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the country's parliament.
Ishiba decided to promote Kihara, currently deputy election chief, to the top committee position so the LDP can smoothly prepare for elections for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly and the House of Councilors, both scheduled for next summer.
Elected to the Lower House six times from the Tokyo No. 20 constituency, Kihara is one of the closest aides to Ishiba's immediate predecessor, Fumio Kishida. Under the Kishida administration, he served as deputy chief cabinet secretary and the party's acting secretary-general.
Allocating one of the four key LDP posts to Kihara would help Ishiba gain further support from Kishida and members of the now-defunct party faction formerly led by Kishida, observers said.
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