ID :
19298
Sat, 09/13/2008 - 10:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/19298
The shortlink copeid
Koizumi to support Koike in LDP leadership election+
TOKYO, Sept. 12 Kyodo - Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will support former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, in which four other candidates are running, LDP lawmaker Seishiro Eto, who is also backing Koike, said Friday.
While former Foreign Minister Taro Aso is widely regarded as the frontrunner,
Koizumi's remarks are likely to give Koike a boost ahead of the Sept. 22
election to pick Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's successor.
''I will support Ms. Koike. I'll cast a ballot for her,'' Koizumi, who does not
currently belong to any intraparty faction, was quoted as telling three LDP
lawmakers -- Eto, former LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe and Jiro Ono --
in the morning in Tokyo.
''If she becomes LDP president, it will be a fair match with (Ichiro) Ozawa's
(main opposition) Democratic Party of Japan,'' Koizumi told them. ''I want this
message to be conveyed to other Diet members.''
The next LDP president, who will also serve as prime minister, is expected to
confront the DPJ-led opposition in a House of Representatives election likely
to be held in a few months.
Koike, who is seeking to become Japan's first female prime minister, is an
advocate of pushing forward structural reforms initiated by Koizumi, who served
as prime minister between 2001 and 2006.
Koizumi's remarks were revealed during Friday's emergency meeting of Koike's
supporters.
In the meeting, former LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa said, ''We got a
powerful message from former Prime Minister Koizumi...My sense of respect (for
Mr. Koizumi) has deepened.''
Nakagawa stressed that it is important to promote the reform drive toward the
next general election, while Takebe described the current LDP as ''old'' and
said he would like to make Koike the first female prime minister of Japan.
Former administrative reform minister Yoshimi Watanabe told reporters after the
meeting that Koizumi's support will have a ''very good influence'' and that
reform-minded people could unite behind Koike.
Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, who leads the LDP's
largest faction and is backing Aso, told a press conference Friday that it is
unknown if the remarks are true, given that Koizumi ''did not talk in public.''
The faction is divided over whom to support, with Nakagawa, also a leader of
the faction, backing Koike, who belongs to the group.
The general public cannot vote in the LDP leadership election, in which the
candidates will vie for an overall majority from 528 ballots -- 387 from LDP
Diet members and 141 from the party's prefectural representatives.
While former Foreign Minister Taro Aso is widely regarded as the frontrunner,
Koizumi's remarks are likely to give Koike a boost ahead of the Sept. 22
election to pick Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's successor.
''I will support Ms. Koike. I'll cast a ballot for her,'' Koizumi, who does not
currently belong to any intraparty faction, was quoted as telling three LDP
lawmakers -- Eto, former LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe and Jiro Ono --
in the morning in Tokyo.
''If she becomes LDP president, it will be a fair match with (Ichiro) Ozawa's
(main opposition) Democratic Party of Japan,'' Koizumi told them. ''I want this
message to be conveyed to other Diet members.''
The next LDP president, who will also serve as prime minister, is expected to
confront the DPJ-led opposition in a House of Representatives election likely
to be held in a few months.
Koike, who is seeking to become Japan's first female prime minister, is an
advocate of pushing forward structural reforms initiated by Koizumi, who served
as prime minister between 2001 and 2006.
Koizumi's remarks were revealed during Friday's emergency meeting of Koike's
supporters.
In the meeting, former LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa said, ''We got a
powerful message from former Prime Minister Koizumi...My sense of respect (for
Mr. Koizumi) has deepened.''
Nakagawa stressed that it is important to promote the reform drive toward the
next general election, while Takebe described the current LDP as ''old'' and
said he would like to make Koike the first female prime minister of Japan.
Former administrative reform minister Yoshimi Watanabe told reporters after the
meeting that Koizumi's support will have a ''very good influence'' and that
reform-minded people could unite behind Koike.
Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, who leads the LDP's
largest faction and is backing Aso, told a press conference Friday that it is
unknown if the remarks are true, given that Koizumi ''did not talk in public.''
The faction is divided over whom to support, with Nakagawa, also a leader of
the faction, backing Koike, who belongs to the group.
The general public cannot vote in the LDP leadership election, in which the
candidates will vie for an overall majority from 528 ballots -- 387 from LDP
Diet members and 141 from the party's prefectural representatives.
