Fumio Kishida, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, announced Tuesday that he won't run in the party's September leadership election, which is likely to make the contest a two-way race between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
With the LDP-Komeito coalition holding a majority of the seats in the powerful Lower House, the election will effectively decide who will serve as prime minister.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Kishida said he made the decision because he is convinced that it is better for Abe to handle a number of ongoing issues this year and next year, including disaster response, the planned abdication of the Emperor and an Upper House election scheduled for next summer. Kishida said he will support Abe in the September race.
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