Maehara, Noda emerge as DPJ favorites

Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda have emerged as the most favored among senior officials of the Democratic Party of Japan's 47 prefectural chapters to take the helm of the ruling party in place of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, according to a Kyodo News survey released Saturday.

Eight chapters threw their support behind Maehara in a multiple-answer question, although he has yet to clearly say he will run in the party presidential race planned for month's end. He was followed by Noda, 54, backed by seven chapters, and former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi, 50, who got support from three chapters.

In Tokyo's Nagata-cho political hub earlier in the day, former DPJ leaders Yukio Hatoyama and Ichiro Ozawa huddled, triggering speculation they will join forces in a bid to pick the ruling party's next chief and new prime minister.

While no details were immediately available about the meeting at the Diet, the two apparently discussed who Kan's successor should be and how to guide their factions to that end.

Kan, who has been badgered by months of vague opposition criticism that has carried over to the government's response to the nation's worst postwar crisis, has said he will leave office soon.

The Hatoyama-Ozawa talks followed trade minister Banri Kaieda's official entry into the DPJ contest Friday. The race, which would be impromptu, could take place on Aug. 28 or 29.

Kaieda, 62, met separately Friday with Hatoyama and Ozawa to get their factions' support.

The veteran Ozawa, whom Kan defeated in the scheduled presidential election last September, has about 120 fellow DPJ lawmakers behind him. The winners of scheduled DPJ polls are effectively in for two-year terms.

On a Saturday morning TV program, Mabuchi hinted he might seek to reverse the suspension of Ozawa's DPJ membership if he is elected party leader. Ozawa was stripped of his membership after his indictment for allegedly participating in the falsification of fundraising reports drafted by his secretaries.

"If a new fact emerges, the new leader can judge from that fact," Mabuchi said in the apparent overture.

Other prospective candidates, including Kaieda, have also voiced the possibility revoking the decision to suspend Ozawa.

But some members are distinctly opposed to the move.

"The decision was made after discussions in the party's executive bodies," said Shu Watanabe. "If we (flip-flop) we will lose the public's trust."

Ex-Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa, 57, and Shinji Tarutoko, 52, former chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee, have also shown a desire to enter the race.

Some members have also been trying to get farm minister Michihiko Kano, 69, to run.

Hatoyama also held talks Saturday with Noda and Kano on the DPJ race.

Noda, who has claimed a tax hike is necessary to fund disaster reconstruction, said he will be flexible on the timing of any increase.

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