By Xinhua,
Tokyo : Taro Aso, secretary general of the ruling Liberal democratic Party (LDP), is almost certain to win the LDP presidential election scheduled to be held later Monday.
Aso, who served as the foreign minister in Junichiro Koizumi’s cabinet as well as in the subsequent Shinzo Abe’s cabinet, has maintained a convenient lead during the election campaigns, gaining the support of some 60 percent of LDP lawmakers and more than 80 of the prefectural chapter representatives, local media reported.
A total of 527 ballots, consisting of 386 ballots from LDP Diet members and 141 from prefectural representatives, will be cast on the election day. According to the LDP election rule, the candidate who secures the absolute majority of the votes wins the election.
The Diet will surely choose the winner of the LDP presidential election as Japan’s new prime minister Wednesday, as the LDP commands the majority in the more powerful House of Representatives, which is entitled to decide on the country’s leader.