Tokyo, Sept. 7 -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his intention to resign in order to avoid further division within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), national broadcaster NHK reported Sunday.
The decision comes just one day before the party is set to determine on Sept. 8 whether to hold an extraordinary presidential election amid mounting calls for Ishiba to step down.
Ishiba is scheduled to hold a press conference at 6:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Within the LDP, 130 of the party's 295 Diet members are said to support holding an emergency leadership contest. Among them are senior figures as well as members of Ishiba's own cabinet, according to the NHK.
At the prefectural level, 18 of the 47 local chapters have a...