Here's what's next in Japan with Kishida bowing out as party leader and prime minister next month

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's embattled Prime Minister Fumio Kishida surprised the country Wednesday by announcing that he'll step down when his party picks a new leader next month.

His decision clears the way for his governing Liberal Democratic Party to choose a new standard bearer in its leadership election next month. The winner of that election will replace Kishida as both party chief and prime minister.

A new leader could help the party shake off scandals that have dogged Kishida's government, and some see a chance for the country to select its first female prime minister.

Here's a look at how the new leader will be chosen, and what it could mean.

Kishida announced plans not to run just days before the LDP is expected to set a date for its triennial leadership vote, which must take place in September.

Kishida will remain party president and prime minister until his successor is elected.

With the LDP in control of both houses of parliament, the next party leader is guaranteed to become prime minister.

Some political watchers say the next general election could come soon after the LDP has a fresh leader, who can choose to hold it at any time before the current term of the lower house ends in October 2025.

A series of local election losses earlier this year sparked calls within his party to have a new face to boost support before the next national election.

Kishida said a series of scandals has “breached” the public’s trust, and the party needs to demonstrate its commitment to change.

He said, “the most obvious first step is for me to bow out.”

The most damaging scandal centered on the failure of dozens of the party's most influential members to report political donations, and resurfaced controversy over the LDP’s decades-old ties with the South Korea-based Unification Church.

Most of Japan's voters won't have a say as the LDP chooses a leader in a vote that's confined to the party's 1.1 million dues-paying members.

They'll vote in a system that divides power between the party's elected lawmakers and its membership at large, with each group getting 50% of the vote.

While LDP leadership votes were long seen as dominated by the party's powerful factional leaders, experts say that's less certain as all but one of the formal factions announced their dissolution in the wake of the party's corruption scandals, in a move led by Kishida.

It's not clear yet who's leading the race to replace Kishida, with speculation focusing on several senior LDP members.

Three of those names belong to women, raising the possibility of a breakthrough in Japan's male-dominated politics.

Experts say the LDP's need to change its image could push it to choose a female prime minister. Only three women have run for the party's leadership in the past, two of whom ran against Kishida in 2021.

Only 10.3% of the members of the lower house of Japan's parliament are women, putting Japan 163rd for female representation among 190 countries examined in a report by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union in April.

The LDP's troubles could spill into the general election, but Japan’s fractured opposition may have difficulty capitalizing on the situation.

Experts say voters may want to punish the LDP over its scandals, but don't see opposition parties as viable alternatives.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has scored some victories in local elections this year, in part helped by the LDP scandals, but it has struggled to come up with policies that draw contrasts with the governing coalition.

FILE - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a ceremony to mark the 74th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War in Daegu, South Korea, on June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool, File)

FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa speaks during a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar after the Quad Ministerial Meeting at the Foreign Ministry's Iikura guesthouse in Tokyo, on July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

FILE - Sanae Takaichi, left, and Seiko Noda, both former internal affairs ministers and candidates for the presidential election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, show their motto on cards during a debate session held by Japan National Press club in Tokyo, on Sept. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)

FILE - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida raises his hand before he speaks about his Liberal Democratic Party's funds scandal during a meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee in Tokyo, on Jan. 29, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - The entrance of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is seen in Tokyo, on Nov. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

FIEL - Japan's former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida poses for a portrait picture following his press conference at the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party after he was elected as party president in Tokyo, on Sept. 29, 2021. (Du Xiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a press conference at his office in Tokyo to announce he will not run in the upcoming party leadership vote in September, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (Japan Pool/Kyodo News via AP)

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Max Verstappen was sixth and Lando Norris only 17th on Saturday in a session that could have a big impact on the Formula 1 title race.

Ferrari's Leclerc, who won the last race in Italy, was fastest by .321 seconds from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. was third. Pole marked a dramatic turnaround for Leclerc, who crashed in the first practice session Friday.

“It hasn’t been an easy weekend because (of) the crash in FP1, which didn’t make me lose confidence. I knew that the pace was there," Leclerc said. "But you’ve got to build back up to speed.”

Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth year running, but he has yet to win the race.

Norris was on what seemed to be a lap fast enough to progress from the first part of qualifying as one of the top 15. But he had to slow for a yellow flag that was apparently for Esteban Ocon's slow-moving Alpine. Norris' time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by .137 of a second.

“There was nothing I could do” about the yellow flag, Norris said. “Frustrating, but now we look ahead to tomorrow and see where we can maximize the result.”

Norris moved up a place on the grid hours later when Pierre Gasly, who had been 13th, was disqualified for breaking rules on fuel flow rates.

Norris is second in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen with eight races remaining.

McLaren confirmed before the race weekend that it would favor Norris over Piastri to help his title challenge, with Norris suggesting the Australian would be asked to make way for him on track in some situations.

That almost certainly won't happen Sunday with 15 places separating the teammates in qualifying. Piastri is aiming to fight for a second career win.

“Our race pace is good, but the Ferrari is certainly not slow,” he said.

Defending champion Verstappen, who hasn't won any of the last six races, seemed better in Baku but was sixth and said he'd clipped a curb at “the worst time it could have happened.” Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth, beating Verstappen in qualifying for the first time all year.

Verstappen said the Red Bull was improved from the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, but questioned whether the team's attempts to refine the setup ahead of qualifying made things worse.

"On a street circuit you need to be comfortable and confident to be able to attack corners and it is harder to do this when the car is a bit more unpredictable," he said.

George Russell was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.

There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams' Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large cooling fan that the team left in his air intake. Albon qualified 10th and the team was fined 5,000 euros ($5,500). Throwing the cooling fan out of the car as Albon did was the “least worst option” because it avoided further disrupting the session, the stewards' ruling said.

Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, was ninth in the best qualifying result for an Argentine driver in 42 years.

British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in the third practice Saturday morning.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Haas driver Oliver Bearman of the United Kingdom walks through the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands enters the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)