The House of Representatives and the House of Councillors in Japan will hold a Prime Minister nomination election

On November 11th local time, the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors in Japan will hold a Prime Minister nomination election. The ruling coalition formed by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito did not win more than half of the seats in the previous House of Representatives election, which brings uncertainty to this Prime Minister nomination election. According to rules and procedures, the Prime Minister's nomination is conducted first by the House of Representatives followed by the House of Councillors. The person who receives more than half of valid votes in the first round wins. Multiple Japanese media outlets predict that there may not be a direct winner from this initial vote in the lower house. A decisive round is expected between Shigeru Ishiba, president of LDP, and Yoshihiko Noda, leader of Constitutional Democratic Party - Japan’s largest opposition party. In this decisive round voting process, whoever gets higher votes wins. This would mark only fifth time in history where a final-round vote has been necessary for prime ministerial nominations within Japan's Lower House.