New prime minister of Japan to be decided next month

Tokyo, Sep 21 (EFE).- Japan’s parliament will elect the country’s new prime minister in an extraordinary parliamentary session on Oct. 4, according to a Cabinet decision on Tuesday.

This sets the date to formally designate the successor of leader Yoshihide Suga, who is stepping down.

Suga announced at the beginning of the month that he would not stand for re-election as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) at the internal party election on the Sep. 29.

Whoever wins the primaries will almost certainly be the country’s new prime minister, since the LDP holds a large majority in both houses of the Diet (parliament) together with its coalition partner, Komeito.

Suga’s successor will only be in office for a few weeks before a general election, which must be called before the end of November due to the expiration of the current legislature, in which the winner will be able to revalidate their mandate.

The contenders for the leadership of the LDP to be decided on Sep. 29 are former foreign minister Fumio Kishida, current minister of administrative and regulatory reform Taro Kono, former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi and former communications minister Seiko Noda.

The general election is expected to be called for Nov. 7 or 14, according to local media. EFE

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