Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned with his cabinet on Monday ahead of a parliament vote later the day to select the country's next prime minister following the general election last month.
Cabinet ministers of the Ishiba administration submitted letters of resignation en masse at a cabinet meeting Monday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.
A Likely Runoff
As the ruling bloc of LDP and Komeito holds less than a majority in the House of Representatives, Monday's vote is likely to head to a runoff between Ishiba and major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party leader Yoshihiko Noda.
Ishiba is then seen launching his new cabinet Monday night. Fresh faces for the cabinet are likely to include Keisuke Suzuki as justice minister, Taku Eto as agriculture minister, and Komeito's Hiromasa Nakano as land minister. Other posts are expected to be filled by those from Ishiba's first cabinet.
It will mark the first runoff in nearly 30 years.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)