Japan's ruling LDP lawmakers start voting for new leader

TOKYO -- Lawmakers from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) started voting for a new leader on Saturday, with five candidates competing to become the new party chief and virtually the country's next prime minister.

The contenders are former LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, and former economic security ministers Sanae Takaichi and Takayuki Kobayashi.

All five also ran in last year's election, which saw a record nine candidates.

The first round of the election, triggered by LDP President Shigeru Ishiba's resignation last month, consisted of 590 votes, 295 from LDP lawmakers and 295 allocated proportionally to rank-and-file party members and registered supporters.

A candidate securing an outright majority in the first round will be elected; otherwise, the top two finishers will proceed to a runoff.

Once a new LDP president is chosen, the parliament will hold a prime ministerial designation vote.

Even though the ruling bloc has failed to secure a majority in both chambers of the parliament, the new leader is almost certain to become the country's next prime minister since the LDP remains the largest party.