Japan's Kaieda ahead in PM race but run-off likely - AngolaPress

Tpkyo - Trade minister Banri Kaieda has the lead in a ruling party race to pick Japan's latest prime minister, but a bruising run-off looks likely as chances look dim for winning a majority in a first round vote, media surveys showed on Sunday.

Japan's next leader -- the country's sixth in five years -- faces huge challenges including a resurgent yen that threatens exports, forging a new energy policy while ending the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, and finding funds to rebuild from a devastating March tsunami
as well as to pay for the ballooning social welfare costs of a fast-aging society.

The obstacles to governing, including a divided parliament and internal party bickering, have raised concerns that the next premier, to be selected in a Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) vote on Monday, will end up being another short-lived leader.

"Unfortunately, chances are that whoever wins, we'll be going through the same debate in 12 months," said Jesper Koll, director of equities research at JP Morgan in Tokyo.

Despite differences over policies such as whether to raise taxes to pay for rebuilding and how to win opposition help in a divided parliament, none of the five candidates has presented a detailed vision of how to end Japan's decades of stagnation and revitalize the world's third-biggest economy.

"Their positions already seem to have been watered down," Koll said.

The party leadership race has become a battle between allies and critics of party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, a 69-year-old political mastermind who heads the DPJ's biggest group despite facing trial on charges of misreporting political donations.

The 62-year-old Kaieda, who has secured powerbroker Ozawa's backing, had support from about 115 of the 398 Democratic lawmakers eligible to vote in Monday's party election, a survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed.

Former foreign minister Seiji Maehara, 49, who says beating deflation is a top priority and wants the Bank of Japan to do more, was jostling with fiscal hawk Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 54, and little-known farm minister Michihiko Kano, 69, for second place,
the Mainichi and other Japanese newspapers said.

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Japan's Kaieda ahead in PM race but run-off likely (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Trade minister Banri Kaieda has the lead in a ruling party race to pick Japan's latest prime minister, but a bruising run-off looks likely as chances look dim for winning a majority in a first round vote, media surveys showed on Sunday.

Japan's next leader -- the country's sixth in five years -- faces huge challenges including a resurgent yen that threatens exports, forging a new energy policy while ending the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, and finding funds to rebuild from a devastating March tsunami as well as to pay for the ballooning social welfare costs of a fast-aging society.

The obstacles to governing, including a divided parliament and internal party bickering, have raised concerns that the next premier, to be selected in a Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) vote on Monday, will end up being another short-lived leader.

"Unfortunately, chances are that whoever wins, we'll be going through the same debate in 12 months," said Jesper Koll, director of equities research at JP Morgan in Tokyo.

Despite differences over policies such as whether to raise taxes to pay for rebuilding and how to win opposition help in a divided parliament, none of the five candidates has presented a detailed vision of how to end Japan's decades of stagnation and revitalize the world's third-biggest economy.

"Their positions already seem to have been watered down," Koll said.

The party leadership race has become a battle between allies and critics of party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, a 69-year-old political mastermind who heads the DPJ's biggest group despite facing trial on charges of misreporting political donations.

The 62-year-old Kaieda, who has secured powerbroker Ozawa's backing, had support from about 115 of the 398 Democratic lawmakers eligible to vote in Monday's party election, a survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed.

Former foreign minister Seiji Maehara, 49, who says beating deflation is a top priority and wants the Bank of Japan to do more, was jostling with fiscal hawk Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 54, and little-known farm minister Michihiko Kano, 69, for second place, the Mainichi and other Japanese newspapers said.

A fifth candidate, former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi, 51, was lagging well behind.

RUN-OFF VOTE LIKELY

If no candidate wins a majority in an initial vote, a run-off will immediately be held between the two top candidates.

The winner of the DPJ election will become prime minister by virtue of the party's majority in parliament's lower house.

"In the current situation, it will be tough to win a majority in the first round vote," the Nikkei business daily quoted an Ozawa aide as saying.

Maehara, a security hawk, ranks highest of the candidates with ordinary voters, but his chances have been undercut by rivalry with Noda, who shares a similar support base inside the DPJ, as well as by concern about a donations scandal.

Maehara -- who would become Japan's youngest post-World War Two premier if he wins -- resigned as foreign minister in March after admitting he had accepted donations from a Korean resident of Japan. That would be illegal had he done so knowingly.

On Saturday, he told a news conference he had received more than $7,000 in donations from four foreigners and one firm headed by a foreigner between 2005 and 2010, but had not been aware of the donations, Japanese media reported.

Whoever takes over from outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who resigned as party head on Friday after months of criticism for his handling of the nuclear crisis, faces a struggle to implement policies in a "twisted" parliament where opposition parties control the upper house and can block bills.

Maehara and Noda on Sunday reiterated their calls for a "grand coalition" with the main opposition parties. Kaieda rejected the idea, to which opposition rivals have anyway been cool. "In a democratic parliamentary system, a grand coalition is not preferable," he said in a debate on NHK public TV.

Feuds over the role of Ozawa, a one-time heavyweight in the conservative Liberal Democratic Party who bolted and helped briefly oust the long-dominant party in 1993, have rattled the Democrats since his Liberal Party merged with the DPJ in 2003.

Some credit his political skills with engineering the Democrats' leap to power in an August 2009 election. Others say his scandal-tainted image is damaging the party, which has seen its support sink among voters disillusioned with its failure to deliver on promises of bold changes in how Japan is governed.

Ozawa, who lost a tough leadership race to Kan last year, cannot vote in Monday's party poll since his DPJ membership was suspended following his indictment over the funding scandal.

(Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Ed Lane)

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Candidate Kaieda eases on Ozawa

Trade minister Banri Kaieda expressed his intention Friday to run for the Democratic Party of Japan presidency and succeed Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and hinted he may lift the suspension on former party leader Ichiro Ozawa, who will soon go on trial.

Hat in: Trade minister Banri Kaieda says Friday he is willing to run for the Democratic Party of Japan presidency at a regular news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. KYODO

With Kan expected to leave office by the end of the month, other potential candidates have also been scurrying for support, including Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and farm minister Michihiko Kano.

But with the recent development that popular ex-DPJ leader Seiji Maehara might also throw his hat into the ring, it is unclear as to who has the early lead.

"I am considering various things, including the current state of the DPJ as well as the situation of the Japanese government since the disaster," Kaieda told a news conference, adding that he has been exchanging opinions with fellow DPJ lawmakers to get ready to run in the presidential election.

The trade minister also called for party unity, suggesting Kan caused the party to splinter after taking an anti-Ozawa path. In February, the DPJ announced Ozawa's party membership was being suspended after his mandatory indictment over a political money scandal. Ozawa heads the biggest faction in the DPJ, with about 120 loyalists. Whoever wins its support will get a significant leg up in the race.

"I thought all DPJ members should join forces in an all-out effort to tackle issues, but in reality we couldn't," Kaieda said. "I think (the next leader) needs to have the power to unite the party."

Meanwhile, a group of senior DPJ lawmakers made an official request to farm minister Kano to run for party president. But he wouldn't say whether he will or won't enter the race.

"This is the gravest request in my political career," Kano said after the group handed him a written request. "I need time to think it over carefully."

Kano is a veteran lawmaker who doesn't belong to one of the DPJ's factions, but 30 lawmakers including vice farm minister Nobutaka Tsutsui joined the group to support him.

One of the key questions facing the candidates is whether they would try to form a grand coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, a move said necessary by critics amid the divided Diet.

Kano is not a strong advocate of this, but Noda has repeatedly stressed the importance of collaborating with the opposition.

"I think everyone understands that we must directly face the opposition parties — otherwise, we will be forced into a very difficult situation in which the budget won't get passed," Noda said.

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Candidate Kaieda eases on Ozawa

Trade minister Banri Kaieda expressed his intention Friday to run for the Democratic Party of Japan presidency and succeed Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and hinted he may lift the suspension on former party leader Ichiro Ozawa, who will soon go on trial.

With Kan expected to leave office by the end of the month, other potential candidates have also been scurrying for support, including Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and farm minister Michihiko Kano.

But with the recent development that popular ex-DPJ leader Seiji Maehara might also throw his hat into the ring, it is unclear as to who has the early lead.

"I am considering various things, including the current state of the DPJ as well as the situation of the Japanese government since the disaster," Kaieda told a news conference, adding that he has been exchanging opinions with fellow DPJ lawmakers to get ready to run in the presidential election.

The trade minister also called for party unity, suggesting Kan caused the party to splinter after taking an anti-Ozawa path. In February, the DPJ announced Ozawa's party membership was being suspended after his mandatory indictment over a political money scandal. Ozawa heads the biggest faction in the DPJ, with about 120 loyalists. Whoever wins its support will get a significant leg up in the race.

"I thought all DPJ members should join forces in an all-out effort to tackle issues, but in reality we couldn't," Kaieda said. "I think (the next leader) needs to have the power to unite the party."

Meanwhile, a group of senior DPJ lawmakers made an official request to farm minister Kano to run for party president. But he wouldn't say whether he will or won't enter the race.

"This is the gravest request in my political career," Kano said after the group handed him a written request. "I need time to think it over carefully."

Kano is a veteran lawmaker who doesn't belong to one of the DPJ's factions, but 30 lawmakers including vice farm minister Nobutaka Tsutsui joined the group to support him.

One of the key questions facing the candidates is whether they would try to form a grand coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, a move said necessary by critics amid the divided Diet.

Kano is not a strong advocate of this, but Noda has repeatedly stressed the importance of collaborating with the opposition.

"I think everyone understands that we must directly face the opposition parties — otherwise, we will be forced into a very difficult situation in which the budget won't get passed," Noda said.

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Kaieda set to run; Maehara undecided

Trade minister Banri Kaieda has decided to run for president of the Democratic Party of Japan to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan and will officially announce his candidacy Friday, party sources said Thursday.

Kaieda is expected to resign as industry minister to take responsibility for the confusion that erupted over whether to restart the reactors at the Genkai power plant in Saga Prefecture.

He also is waiting to ensure the Diet passes a bill for promoting renewable energy in light of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The bill's passage is expected by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara has re-emerged, with relatively high public support ratings, as another potential candidate to succeed Kan but remains undecided about whether to throw his hat into the ring, his allies said.

Maehara has received relatively stronger support for a leadership bid than the other potential candidates, public opinion polls show.

Maehara's allies said he will decide whether to run in the not-too-distant future. The winner would be expected to replace Kan as prime minister.

Maehara's supporters, however, are divided over whether he should be a contender. Some have said he should not seek the top post, which he once held before the DPJ came to power, given that he resigned as foreign minister in March over accepting donations from a foreign national — a Korean resident of Japan with a Japanese name. They are urging him to wait until the party holds its regular presidential election in September next year.

Coming out of his group's meeting, Maehara told reporters he is glad some of his allies want him to run.

"I take it seriously. I'll decide after consulting with my fellow party members," he said.

Other potential DPJ candidates in the looming poll include Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, farm minister Michihiko Kano and former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi.

Noda spoke Wednesday night with Maehara and asked for his intraparty group's support in the election, a source said.

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