The Liberal Democratic Party has decided on Sept. 17 as the kick-off date for campaigning in the party's presidential election, with voting and ballot counting to take place on Sept. 29.
The decision was made at a meeting of the LDP's General Council on Thursday. This means the next House of Representatives election will take place in October or later.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's term as LDP president expires on Sept. 30, and Suga has expressed his intention to seek re-election. Former Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida, who lost to Suga in the previous presidential election last September, announced his candidacy on Thursday.
Policy Research Council Chairman Hakubun Shimomura is also considering a possible run. He told reporters Thursday that he had secured nominations from 20 Diet members, the minimum number needed to qualify as a candidate.
Former Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi told a monthly magazine about her intention to run for LDP president and was also to announce her position on Thursday.
All party and fraternity members nationwide will vote in the upcoming presidential election. Each Diet member -- excluding the chairmen of both chambers of the Diet -- has one vote, meaning 383 ballots, as of Thursday, will be cast. There are also 383 party member votes.
The candidate who wins a majority out of the total 766 votes will be elected.
In the September 2020 presidential election, the LDP decided not to hold campaign tours in regional areas amid the pandemic. The same policy will be followed with this year's campaign.
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