Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Friday declared his bid for re-election as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, while two other contenders -- Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki -- also announced their candidacies.

The LDP will hold its presidential election Sept. 21, about a week before Obuchi's tenure as LDP chief ends Sept. 30. Obuchi is currently serving out the remainder of the two-year term of his predecessor, Ryutaro Hashimoto, who quit in July 1998.

It is widely believed that Obuchi, who heads the LDP's largest faction, will win re-election easily because of support he has secured from other major faction leaders.