Japan’s ruling party elects Sanae Takaichi as new leader

Japan’s governing party on Saturday elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line ultraconservative and China hawk, as its new leader, making her likely to become the country’s first female prime minister.

- AGENCIES

In a country that ranks poorly internationally for gender equality, the 64-year-old Takaichi makes history as the first female leader of Japan’s long-governing conservative Liberal Democratic Party. Takaichi is one of the most conservative members of the male-dominated party.

An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is a protege of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ‘s ultraconservative vision and a regular at the Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism, which could complicate Tokyos relations with its Asian neighbors.

Takaichi beat Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in a runoff in a vote by the LDP on Saturday.