Suga cements frontrunner status in Japan PM race

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga yesterday cemented his status as the clear frontrunner in the race to become the country's next prime minister, ahead of a vote expected on September 14.

Suga has yet to officially announce he is running for the top job, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last week he would resign over health problems.

But he has nonetheless already become the favourite, with the largest faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party throwing its support behind him yesterday, local media said.

Two other key factions have also said they will back Suga, who is set to make his candidacy official today, when the LDP is expected to confirm the election date.

Local media said candidates will be required to register their run on September 8 -- with campaigning beginning immediately after.

Two candidates, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba and LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida, have so far officially announced plans to stand.

The LDP election is for the party leadership, with a parliamentary vote for prime minister following on September 16, reports said. Opposition candidates are expected to stand, but the vote is seen largely as a formality that will endorse the ruling party's choice.

A leadership contest would usually poll ruling-party lawmakers and LDP members nationwide. But the LDP has opted for a constrained format, polling only its MPs and three representatives from each of the country's 47 prefectures.

The decision has elicited some criticism, but party officials said it would take too long to organise a broader vote.

"The prime minister is sick, his illness has re-emerged. He is working hard under very difficult conditions," Shunichi Suzuki, chairman of the party's general council, told reporters on Tuesday.

"If we were to hold a full-scale election, it would take two months. With the prime minister's health, two months is very long. We can't take that long," he said.