Former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba won the race to lead Japan’s ruling party on Friday, lining him up to become the country’s next prime minister.
Ishiba defeated economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in a runoff, after the two won the most votes in the first round in a crowded field of nine candidates.
The 67-year-old Ishiba will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who threw the Liberal Democratic Party for a loop when he announced in August that he would not be running for its top office, effectively ending his three-year term.
Ishiba is now expected to be approved as prime minister in a vote by parliament on Oct. 1 due to the LDP having a majority in both chambers of the legislature, effectively ensuring its chief becomes the next prime minister.
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