TOKYO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling Democratic Party of Japan officially announced four members had registered as candidates to run in the upcoming inner-party election Monday morning.
The candidates include Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, former Internal Affairs Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi, former Agriculture Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu and Michihiko Kano, the former Agriculture Minister in Noda's cabinet before the reshuffle.
The four candidates will hold a joint press conference Monday afternoon to express their political views as the start of their official campaigning.
Local media suggested that Noda has a strong likelihood of winning the reelection of DPJ scheduled on Sept. 21 with no strong rivals. But some young DPJ members think that DPJ will lose the upcoming general election with Noda as their leader.
