Taro Kono, the minister in charge of Japan's vaccination rollout, is set to announce his bid to succeed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at a news conference Friday, people familiar with his thinking said Thursday.
The 58-year-old would be the third lawmaker to declare candidacy in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sept. 29 leadership race after former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and former communications minister Sanae Takaichi.
Kono consistently places high in opinion polls on who is most fit to become prime minister, and had been eyeing a run since Suga abruptly announced his resignation last week amid mounting criticism over his COVID-19 response and declining public approval ratings.