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TOKYO: Former finance minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said on Sunday he would stand for the leadership of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, which suffered a landslide defeat in last month's legislative elections.
The party is set to replace Prime Minister Taro Aso, who announced he would step down as party leader in the aftermath of the August 30 drubbing.
"I'm determined to run," Tanigaki, 64, said.
"Someone has to make the sacrifice in the wake of the worst defeat since the LDP was founded."
The party is set to elect a new leader on September 28. Other possible candidates for the leadership include farm minister Shigeru Ishiba and Taro Kono, the son of former LDP president Yohei Kono, according to local media.
Tanigaki made an unsuccessful bid for the LDP leadership in 2006, finishing third behind Shinzo Abe, who won and became prime minister, and Aso, who came second and later took over from Abe.
Aso is to resign as prime minister as well as LDP leader on Wednesday ahead of a parliamentary vote to name Yukio Hatoyama, head of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), as the nation's new prime minister. - AFP/de
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