TOKYO: Japan’s new prime minister will be officially elected by parliament on October 1 after next week’s leadership contest, a ruling party official announced on Wednesday.
Polls show that three frontrunners are emerging among the 9 candidates to succeed Fumio Kishida as chief of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the September 27 internal elections.
They are conservative former LDP secretary general Shigeru Ishiba, 67, economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, and Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, son of former PM Junichiro Koizumi.
The conservative LDP — which has governed about uninterrupted for decades — holds a majority in the country’s parliament, meaning the winner of the party polls is essentially guaranteed to become Prime Minister.
Yasukazu Hamada, a LDP legislator in charge of parliament affairs, told his opposition counterpart that the party wants to convene a parliament session on October 1 in order to elect the new PM, AFP reported.
The opposition party also accepted the date, which will be officially announced by the government on Monday, media reports stated. Kishida, whose three-year term was tarnished by scandals, voter anger over increasing prices and down poll ratings, announced last month that he was stepping down.
