TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba has been elected the new leader of Japan's ruling party, and is set to become the country's next prime minister.
The veteran political leader won the most votes in a crowded race for the leadership of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which included nine candidates.
The winner was decided in a runoff between Ishiba and Sanae Takaichi on Friday.
A close ally to late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 67-year-old Ishiba is popular among the public and the party cadres as he used to criticize his own party and its leaders.
Ishiba said he will work for LDP to 'reborn and regain the trust of the people.'
He has pledged to take measures to ease the high inflation rates of the world's fourth-largest economy.
The election was necessitated by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's announced last month that he will not seek a second term as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Under Japan's parliamentary system, the leader of the ruling party becomes prime minister. The LDP elects its president every three years.
Kishida's approval ratings had plummeted in the wake of a series of political scandals involving his party, which have fueled calls for his resignation.
Rising living costs and the weakening of the yen against the US dollar undermined confidence in the 67-year-old veteran leader's economic policies.
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