TOKYO: The Japanese government and the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party are discussing the idea of convening on Oct. 4 an extraordinary parliamentary session for electing the successor to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

A certain period of time needs to secured after the Sept. 29 LDP presidential election and before the convening of the extraordinary session of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, for the new LDP leader to prepare for the appointments of cabinet members and party executives, a senior LDP official said Tuesday.

Last week, Suga, also president of the LDP, announced his decision not to run in the party’s leadership election for effectively choosing the country’s prime minister.

The government and the ruling bloc assume the Diet’s vote for nominating a new prime minister to be held on Oct. 4.

The term of office for the current members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, ends on Oct. 21. The length of the extraordinary session will be decided following discussions on whether the new prime minister would deliver a policy speech and hold question-and-answer sessions with other party representatives.

JIJI Press