Dark horse mulls entering race to succeed Mori

Dark horse mulls entering race to succeed Mori

TOKYO (Reuters): A dark horse candidate hinted on Tuesday he may run in the race to succeed lame-duck Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, further clouding the picture over who will be Japan's next ruler.

No contender has yet to throw their hat into the ring since the unpopular Mori bowed to popular pressure last month and said he would bring forward from September an election for the presidency of his dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), effectively putting a period to his administration.

Economics Minister Taro Aso was considering his candidacy in response to calls by some young members of the LDP, which dominates the three-party ruling coalition. The LDP presidency thus guarantees the prime ministership.

Aso was playing his cards close to his chest, declining to rule himself out of the race. "I cannot say whether I will run or not," he told a news conference.

"As a lawmaker, I am grateful for the voices of younger colleagues. But that does not mean that I will run right away," he said.

The race is set to heat up this week with Mori to meet a senior LDP leader to discuss setting a date for finding his successor and paving the way for his long-awaited resignation.

Mori told top executives of his LDP that he would meet party Secretary General Makoto Koga on Wednesday, after the government and the ruling coalition parties submit a package of steps to help the struggling economy.

Lawmakers in the three-way ruling coalition, led by the conservative LDP, are keen to ditch Mori ahead of a crucial July Upper House poll in the hope of improving their chances.

But Aso's own chances were seen as slim given his relative youth -- he is 60 -- and his small support base.

In Japanese politics, seniority still guarantees power and in the multi-faction LDP, a large backing is needed to rise to prominence.

Aso belongs to a faction with only 12 members. The largest faction in the LDP has around 100 members. Like Aso, some LDP lawmakers have hinted they want to succeed Mori, but none has yet to openly declare their candidacy.

For weeks now, powerbrokers have been locked in talks behind closed doors to find a replacement for Mori, and prospective candidates have been engaged in political jockeying.

Junichiro Koizumi, seen as one of the two favorites to succeed Mori and the head of Mori's own LDP faction, was coy. In an interview with the Sankei Shimbun daily published on Tuesday, Koizumi said he would decide only after details for the LDP presidential election are set.

"I can reach a decision in one day," he was quoted as saying. One problem is a date for Mori's departure and for an election.

Media expect Mori to look to April 5 as crucial since that marks exactly one year in office for the rugby-playing prime minister whose reputation for gaffes has left his career in shreds.

Media speculation has focused on a date between April 22 and April 24 for the party race, with a new cabinet to be formed on April 26 after Emperor Akihito returns from a trip to western and can preside over the inauguration ceremony.

Koizumi told the Sankei that one reason the leadership race has become so murky is the failure of the LDP's largest faction to decide on their candidate of choice.

The support of the faction, headed by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, is essential to winning the race because the group commands about 100 members.

Hiromu Nonaka, the faction's de facto leader, is seen by many as Koizumi's leading competitor, even though the elderly politician has repeatedly ruled out his candidacy.

And while the LDP's coalition partners, the New Komeito Party and the New Conservatives, favor the crafty Nonaka, 75, many younger LDP lawmakers fear his wheeler-dealer image and age would further damage the party's reputation with voters.

Hashimoto has also been rumored as a contender, but the 63- year-old political heavyweight has already had to resign as prime minister once after the LDP was thrashed in a 1998 Upper House election.

As a result, there is speculation that the faction might instead decide to throw its support behind a third candidate.

Fears that the LDP may fare badly in the July Upper House election are also key to the shortage of candidates.

Many analysts believe ambitious politicians will refrain from running in the leadership race because they could be held responsible for a possible battering in the July polls.