Japan's popular vaccination minister, Taro Kono, is set to announce his candidacy on Friday for leader of the country's ruling political party and, by extension, its next prime minister, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Kono's decision to throw his hat in the ring for the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), left open by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's announcement last week he would step down, takes the number of candidates to three.
Kono appears to have an edge on former foreign minister Fumio Kishida and former internal minister Sanae Takaichi in the race.
Nearly a third of respondents in a poll conducted by major domestic media last week said the Georgetown University-educated Kono, 58, was the most suitable to succeed Suga.
The winner of the Sept. 29 vote of grass-roots party members and its lawmakers will lead it in the lower house election that must be held by Nov. 28.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
