TOKYO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Shinzo Abe, the newly elected leader of Japan's main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has decided to appoint former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba as the party's secretary general, local media reported Thursday.
Ishiba, who led four other candidates in the first round of presidential election Wednesday, but lost narrowly to former prime minister Abe in the runoff, is likely to accept the post, Japan's leading news agency Kyodo News reported.
Abe's plan to tap Ishiba as the No. 2 figure of the party is aimed at garnering support in the run-up to the next general election due within a year, and he will work on naming other party executives under his leadership by Friday, the report said.
|
