Koike set to launch bid to be Japan's first woman PM

TOKYO: Former TV anchorwoman Yuriko Koike signalled Monday she would run to be Japan's first female prime minister, as a buoyant opposition vowed to cut short the tenure of any new leader.

Yuriko Koike

Koike, 56, said she had enough backers to contest the September 22 vote in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to replace unpopular Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who abruptly resigned a week ago as public support dwindled.

Some LDP heavyweights want to hold a snap election soon after the next prime minister takes charge, hoping the new leader would be popular despite a tough environment as the world's second largest economy falters. Koike said she would pursue free-market reforms, a contrast to front-runner Taro Aso who supports government spending to boost the economy despite a ballooning public debt.

"Backed by calls from the people that we need to continue reforms, I'm making final arrangements to join the presidential election," Koike said.

The election is for president of the LDP, who then becomes prime minister.

Koike, a former defence minister, was due to hold a news conference later in the day to counter Aso, a 67-year-old former foreign minister known for his conservative views on security and love of comic-book culture. As the LDP prepared for a showdown, the main opposition Democratic Party re-elected its leader, Ichiro Ozawa, unopposed.

The Democratic Party was set to hold its own election on September 21, but no candidates had filed by Monday's deadline to oppose Ozawa, a 66-year-old former LDP heavyweight with a love of bare-knuckles political battle.

Ozawa "will be the first prime minister from the Democratic Party once there are general elections," said Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the opposition party. "We want to topple the government at any cost," Hatoyama told reporters.

The LDP has been in power for all but 10 months since 1955 with strong support from big business and the countryside. But Ozawa led the opposition to a landmark victory last year, seizing one house of parliament amid a backlash over LDP scandals and free-market reforms.

Others running in the LDP race include Kaoru Yosano, 70, the current economic and fiscal policy minister and a staunch advocate of fiscal discipline, and Shigeru Ishiba, 51, a former defence minister.

Monday,

AFP