Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (C) answers a question during a lower house budget committee session at parliament in Tokyo on May 11, 2021. Photo: VCG

Japan's ruling party on Thursday set a September 29 date for a leadership race ahead of an expected October general election and with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga facing record-low approval.

Suga, who was appointed after the resignation of Shinzo Abe in 2020, is facing tough criticism over his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

His government's approval rating has nosedived to an all-time low of 31.8 percent according to a poll by the Kyodo news agency earlier in August.

The Liberal Democratic Party's election commission approved the date on Thursday morning, with a general meeting expected to approve the decision later in the day.

Suga faces at least three leadership challengers, including former foreign minister Fumio Kishida, LDP policy chief Hakubun Shimomura and party member Sanae Takaichi.

But Suga has the support of the party's powerful secretary general, and is so far favored to lead his party into a general election.

Despite his government's weak standing, the LDP is not expected to lose the parliamentary majority it holds as part of a coalition, with the opposition fragmented and so far unable to put a major challenge.

Suga has been battered by his government's response to the pandemic, with Japan struggling through a record fifth wave of the virus after a slow start to its vaccine program.

Much of the country is currently under virus restrictions, but the measures have been insufficient to stop a surge in cases driven by the more contagious Delta variant.

AFP