Just one day after telling an audience of young reformers that he would not say who he was supporting, it appears that Koizumi Junichiro has come out in support of Koike Yuriko, the woman who he elevated to his cabinet shortly after her arrival in the LDP.Sankei reports that Mr. Koizumi met Friday with Koike …
Tag: LDP
Aso seals the deal, and the LDP pats itself on the back
The campaign to replace Fukuda Yasuo as LDP president and prime minister officially began on Wednesday, with the five candidates — Aso Taro, Koike Yuriko, Yosano Kaoru, Ishihara Nobuteru, and Ishiba Shigeru — holding a joint press conference before traveling the country to campaign.The press conference makes clear just how farcical claims of the LDP's …
Continue reading Aso seals the deal, and the LDP pats itself on the back
Election envy?
Ozawa Ichiro has effectively been elected to a third term as leader of the DPJ; not surprisingly, no one else filed to run in the party leadership election.At the same time, the LDP field has widened to five candidates, each with markedly different viewpoints.Not surprisingly, Mr. Ozawa's uncontested reelection has been unfavorably contrasted with the …
The field gets crowded
On Friday I noted that the LDP was shaping up with four candidates.Not long after I wrote that post, however, it became clear that the field would expand before long, in large part because younger LDP members like Yamauchi Koichi are unhappy with their choices.As a result, Ishiba Shigeru (51), the former defense minister, Yamamoto …
The LDP field coalesces
Despite a political situation that has already consumed the careers of two LDP prime ministers — cowards, says Newsweek's Christian Caryl, and he has a point — there are now four candidates running to serve as the next LDP president and prime minister.I think Aso Taro remains the front runner, for reasons enunciated here and …
Fault lines
Does anyone think that the Machimura faction, that 89-member monster of a faction that sits at the intersection of the LDP's divisions between "neo-liberal" reformers, party leaders, and ideological conservatives, will survive this party election?Following up on both his previous dismissal of Koike Yuriko's prospects and his endorsement of Aso Taro, Mori Yoshiro said of …
Gauging Aso’s chances
For the second year in a row, Aso Taro is the early frontrunner to seize the LDP leadership.As noted yesterday, whether he wins this year will depend on his gaining an additional 68 votes over his 2007 total. One way to do that will be to build significantly on the 65 of 141 prefectural chapter …
Koike prepares
The LDP is finalizing the schedule for its election: September 22, the day following the DPJ's reelection of Ozawa Ichiro.While it still looks as if Aso Taro will claim the prize, it appears that his election will not go nearly as smoothly as Mr. Ozawa's.Mainichi reports that Koike Yuriko has expressed her desire to run, …
The final word on Fukuda
The word in the Japanese media is that Fukuda Yasuo's resignation came as a complete surprise, reportedly made even without consulting with his wife.The LDP was blindsided. The public, it seems, is angry over Mr. Fukuda's "irresponsibility." The DPJ has already called for a general election.I was not among those who wrote Mr. Fukuda off …
Aso Taro’s poisoned chalice
With Fukuda Yasuo's resignation, there is little question that the frontrunner to replace him (perhaps the only candidate to replace him) is Aso Taro.Mr. Aso may regret it.Taking the helm with the LDP in even greater shambles than it was when he ran against Mr. Fukuda in September 2007 to succeed Abe Shinzo, a Prime …
Tobias S. Harris 