Democratic Party of Japan chief Katsuya Okada announced Tuesday that he will run in the party's presidential race on Sept. 13, with a majority of party members backing his bid for re-election.
Okada, who led the DPJ to huge gains in the House of Councilors election last month, is likely to be uncontested in his bid for a two-year term. His current term expires at the end of September.
"I became the party leader (three months ago) not because I wanted to," Okada told reporters, referring to his appointment after Naoto Kan stepped down over his past failure to pay into the mandatory national pension system.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.