Former internal affairs minister Seiko Noda announced Thursday she will run in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race, making a last-minute bid for party president as the campaign gets set to kick off Friday.
Noda’s candidacy is expected to split votes that could have gone for vaccine chief Taro Kono and make it harder for any candidate to win a majority in the first round of voting.
In the past few weeks, Noda has been knocking on the doors of party lawmakers, asking them to become a supporter for her bid.