The race to determine the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s next president — and by default, the next prime minister — will officially begin Tuesday, following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s bombshell announcement last month that he will step down due to poor health.
Three candidates have thrown their hats into the ring.
Having secured backing from most major factions within the LDP, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is widely predicted to be a shoo-in for the presidential election, but LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba are also in the running.