<span style="font-size: 13.3333px; color: #222222;">Former Japanese defence minister Shigeru Ishiba today announced a long-shot bid to unseat Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as leader of the country's ruling party in elections next month. <br />''<br style="font-size: 13.3333px;" />''Abe is widely expected to win another term as head of the Liberal Democratic Party with Ishiba likely to be his only challenger. <br />''<br style="font-size: 13.3333px;" />''Polls suggest the premier is supported by around 70 percent of LDP members and winning the vote would put him on the path to becoming Japan's longest-serving prime minister ever.<br />''</span><br style="font-size: 13.3333px;" />''<span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Despite the odds, 61-year-old Ishiba said he had decided to challenge Abe to restore confidence in the government, which should be at the service of citizens.</span>