Japan's ruling party to pick new leader on September 27

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TOKYO-- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) decided, Tuesday, to hold its presidential election on September 27 to pick a successor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The decision was made at the LDP's presidential election administrative committee earlier in the day. A 15-day official campaign period was set to start on September 12, the longest since the current system was introduced in 1995.

The new party leader is expected to become the country's prime minister, thanks to the LDP and its junior coalition partner's current majority in both houses of parliament.
The upcoming election will take place as Kishida's 3-year term as LDP president expires on September 30.

Last week, the 67-year-old announced that he would not run for the party's presidential election next month, following a political funding scandal involving the ruling party factions.
At a party executive meeting on Tuesday, Kishida said, "The process of the presidential election itself will show the new LDP to the people. I hope that serious discussions will be held in front of the public." Candidates will compete for a total 734 votes -- 367 held by LDP lawmakers and another 367 by rank-and-file members across Japan. According to Kyodo News Agency, some 11 LDP figures are seen as likely to bid for the leadership, including Japan's top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa. (end) mk.gta