Tokyo, Sep 2 (UNI) Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, announced on Wednesday that he will be running in the race to become Japan's next prime minister, succeeding Shinzo Abe, who announced last week that he was stepping down due to health reasons.
A longtime aide to the outgoing prime minister Shinzo Abe, Suga told reporters on Wednesday that he was entering the leadership contest to avoid a political vacuum at a time of crisis, an Al Jazeera report said.
It is expected that Suga will be able to take over the prime minister's post easily, as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party enjoys a majority in the lower house of parliament.
He will however be facing competition in the September 14 party vote from former defence minister, Shigeru Ishiba, and ex-foreign minister Fumio Kishida, but political pundits say that Suga looks to be in a strong position.
The party on Tuesday decided that it will hold a scaled-back leadership vote by not including the rank-and-file members, but only its legislators and three representatives from each of the country's 47 prefectures will vote - an advantage for the 71-year-old Suga, who is backed by five of the LDP's seven factions, according to local media reports.
His rivals Ishiba, 63, is not seen as popular among LDP legislators due to his anti-Abe stance, even though the public opinions is very much in his favour, and Kishida, also 63, who was once considered Abe's successor in the past, has a very limited public profile and since Prime Minister Abe has refused to endorse any candidate, will mean that Kishida will find the going tough against Suga.
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