Liberal Democratic Party leadership candidates Shigeru Ishiba and Sanae Takaichi, popular in public opinion polls by news organizations, are struggling to widen support for them among LDP lawmakers, falling behind Shinjiro Koizumi, another popular candidate, and some others, a Jiji Press survey has revealed.
Ishiba, 67, a former secretary-general of the ruling party, and economic security minister Takaichi, 63, have respectively secured support from only a few LDP colleagues in addition to the 20 members who nominated each of them, according to the survey conducted through Sunday.
Meanwhile, former Environment Minister Koizumi, 43, and three others — former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, and current LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, 68 — have each clinched support from around 10% of the 367 LDP lawmakers.
