Tokyo, Sep 9 (IANS): Japan's Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a firm supporter of late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vision of a 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific' (FOIP), relaunched her bid to become the country's first female PM on Monday by announcing her candidacy for the post of President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

63-year-old Takaichi lost in the very first round during the LDP's 2021 election when current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was elected.

Her decision to join the leadership race has given an interesting turn to the September 27 election which will witness a record number of candidates - seven, so far - including Takaichi's colleagues Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi and Digital Minister Taro Kono.

"I will pursue economic growth first and foremost and as much as possible," Japan's leading news agency Kyodo News quoted Takaichi as saying during a press conference on Monday where she also noted the need for "strategic" fiscal spending for the economy.

Takaichi also stressed that Japan must ensure its ally, the United States, remains "engaged" in the region.

"The election will also feature another conservative lawmaker Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, who served as economic security minister before Takaichi. Their contest has brought into focus how much support each candidate can garner from the LDP's conservative base. Takaichi said she will push for revising Japan's pacifist Constitution at an early date to stipulate the existence of the Self-Defense Forces in line with the LDP's goal," reported Kyodo News.

"She also pledged to remove a buoy that China has installed in the waters around the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea," the report added.

The LDP election is taking place following a slush funds scandal that rocked the ruling party and forced Kishida, whose three-year term ends late September, to step down.

"The election will also feature another conservative lawmaker Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, who served as economic security minister before Takaichi. Their contest has brought into focus how much support each candidate can garner from the LDP's conservative base," Kyodo News detailed.