Taro Aso elected president of Japan's ruling LDP

2008-09-22 06:02:44 GMT2008-09-22 14:02:44 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

In this Sept. 11, 2008 file photo, Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential candidate and LDP Secretary General Taro Aso speaks during a leadership campaign in Tokyo's Shibuya shopping district. Taro Aso, the man favored to become Japan's next prime minister, brings to this week's electoral battle an unusual asset in politics here: personality. (AP Photo)

TOKYO, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Taro Aso, current secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was elected LDP's party chief in its presidential election Monday.

Aso, who served as the foreign minister in Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet as well as in the subsequent Shinzo Abe's cabinet, won 351,or 66.6 percent of a total of 527 votes.

According to the LDP election rule, the candidate who secures the absolute majority of the votes wins the election.

At a special session of the Diet scheduled for Wednesday, Aso will automatically assume Japan's premiership, as the LDP commands dominance in the more powerful House of Representatives, which has the final say in picking Japan's new leader.

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