LDP's conservative interests win over popular sentiment in Japan

TOKYO - Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership contest on Wednesday (Sept 29) was pitched as a duel between the conservative orthodox and maverick reformists.

But the election that was won by former foreign minister Fumio Kishida, 64, who is set to succeed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, had only served to cement the clear upper hand that the outsized conservative influence holds over the popular grassroots sentiment.