Following Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's announcement that he will not run for the LDP presidency, Taro Kono, minister in charge of administrative and regulatory reforms, plans to decide to run on Friday, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
It has become certain to be a contested election race since Fumio Kishida, a former chairman of the party's Policy Research Council, had already declared his bid and Shigeru Ishiba, former LDP secretary general, is also considering running for the presidency.
Kono, who had been the focus of speculation as to whether or not he would run for the presidency, said at a press conference on Friday morning, "First of all, I would like to confirm [the prime minister's] intentions."
Ishiba, asked about his intentions regarding the LDP presidential election, told reporters at the Diet Building on Friday, "The situation has changed greatly. I want to draw a conclusion at an appropriate time about what path I should take for Japan and the LDP, while discussing the matters with my fellow party members."
Regarding Suga's announcement, he said, "I want to express my sincere respect for the prime minister for giving his all to his job and working day and night. I believe it was a difficult decision."
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