Japan main opposition head hopes for combative debate with LDP Ishiba

TOKYO (Kyodo) — The leader of Japan’s main opposition party on Friday voiced expectations for a combative debate with Shigeru Ishiba, the newly elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as speculation grows that a general election may be held soon.

“Ishiba is not the type to shy away from debate,” said Yoshihiko Noda, who served as prime minister for more than a year through December 2012 and was chosen as the new leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on Monday.

After the LDP election, Noda, 67, told reporters, “I look forward to seeing who can push the other out of the ring first by gripping each other by the belts,” using a sumo wrestling metaphor to describe his expectations for their upcoming debate.

In Friday’s election, a record nine candidates ran amid a high-profile slush fund scandal that has eroded public trust in the LDP. Ishiba defeated economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, a conservative female lawmaker, in a runoff.

Former Defense Minister Ishiba, the same age as Noda, is set to be named prime minister by parliament on Tuesday. Noda previously served as premier when the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, the predecessor to the CDPJ, was in power for about three years from 2009.

Before the LDP presidential election ended, many lawmakers said the next prime minister might dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap election by the end of this year. At a press conference on Friday, however, Ishiba declined to comment on when he will do so.