TOKYO, September 27. /TASS/. A vote to elect the leader of the governing Liberal Democratic Party will be held in Japan on Friday, and the winner will become the country’s next prime minister.

Although the record-high number of nine people put forward their candidacies, there is no obvious favorite among them. Analysts expect a runoff between the top two vote-getters to take place.

Frontrunners

Three candidates are seen as frontrunners to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida: former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who is the son of a former popular prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi; former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba; and Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi.

According to a poll by the Yomiuri newspaper, Ishiba is the frontrunner with 26% of the vote, followed by Takaichi (25%) and Koizumi (15%). However, Koizumi has broader support among parliament members, whose votes will be decisive in the runoff, should it take place. According to the NHK broadcaster, at least 50 out of the 368 LDP parliamentarians are ready to support him, while Ishiba and Takaichi have secured the support of around 30 lawmakers each.

Other candidates

Other candidates are Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa; Chief Cabinet Secretary (the de-facto number two in the Japanese government) and former Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi; Digital Minister Taro Kono; the LDP’s Secretary General and former Foreign Minister and Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi; ex-Health Minister Katsunobu Kato; and former Economic Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi.

Voting procedure

The vote is limited to members of the LDP faction in the parliament and to approximately 1.05 million grassroots members of the governing party. LDP lawmakers will cast 368 votes in the first round, with an equal number of votes proportionally distributed to reflect the vote among the rank-and-file members.

The lawmakers will cast their ballot on September 27. Grassroots members already voted on Thursday.

A candidate needs to get a simple majority of votes to be declared winner, but this is unlikely to happen in the first round this year. In this case, a runoff will be held among all members of the Japanese parliament, with only 47 votes allocated to regional party offices.

The winner will be nominated to the post of the Japanese prime minister during an extraordinary session of parliament, tentatively scheduled for October 1.

The party chair is elected for a three-year term with the possibility of being re-elected three times.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in mid-August that he would not run in the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s leadership election and would step down after the vote. The announcement was made as the popular approval for his government plunged to record lows amid a series of scandals.