Abe re-elected as ruling LDP president

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) chief without a vote as nobody filed candidacy for the presidential election set for September 20, local media reported on Tuesday.

The LDP received applications from candidates from 8 a.m. to 8. 30 a.m. on Tuesday. However, senior lawmakers Seiko Noda, who has expressed her intention to challenge Abe, gave up at last on filing candidacy after failing to muster the support of 20 party lawmakers required to run in the race, Xinhua reported.

Abe's current term as LDP president expires on September 30. With his re-election, his term will last three more years to the end of September 2018.