Japan ruling party sets date for leadership vote PM bound to win

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Friday set a date for a party leadership election that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is bound to win, effectively assuring him of staying leader of the world's third-largest economy. All seven factions within the party supported Abe and there were no signs he would face a contender in the Sept. 20 vote, the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's major daily, said. Abe's once-mighty public support started sliding after scholars told a parliamentary panel in June that legislation ending a ban on the military fighting overseas to defend a friendly country would violate Japan's pacifist constitution. But his ratings bounced following a statement this month to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in which he expressed "utmost grief" for the suffering Japan caused. Toshihiro Nikai, a party heavyweight, told a news conference last week that the whole party was moving toward Abe's re-election and that he had no doubt about his victory. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Nick Macfie)