TOKYO -- The ruling party election likely to choose Japan's next prime minister is shaping up to be a three-way race among former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and Sanae Takaichi, minister in charge of economic security.
Nine candidates will vie for 736 votes in the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election on Sept. 27, split evenly between LDP lawmakers and rank-and-file party members. If no candidate wins a majority, the race goes into a runoff where the 368 lawmakers and 47 prefectural party chapters each get a vote.
.jpg?width=178&fit=cover&gravity=faces&dpr=2&quality=medium&source=nar-cms&format=auto&height=100)
