Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faces a leadership scramble after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned following electoral losses blamed on rising living costs, Reuters reported.

Former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced his candidacy Monday, urging party unity. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi also plans to run, but frontrunners are expected to be Sanae Takaichi and Shinjiro Koizumi. Takaichi could become Japan’s first female leader; Koizumi, 44, its youngest in modern times.

Takaichi, a fiscal dove opposing Bank of Japan rate hikes, supports increased spending and has advocated revising Japan’s pacifist constitution, drawing attention from investors and China. Markets reacted with a weaker yen and rising stocks amid uncertainty over economic policy, according to Reuters.