Former foreign minister seeks Japan leadership

Brash, right-leaning former foreign minister Taro Aso announced today that he will run for ruling party president in a move that would put him on track to take over as Japan’s next prime minister.

Mr Aso, 67, is widely considered the front-runner to replace struggling prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, who announced on Monday that he would step down amid sagging popularity and troubles with a split parliament.

Mr Aso, a former Olympic skeetshooter, is focusing his campaign on Japan’s troubled economy, which is suffering from stagnating growth, weak consumer spending and inflation.

“The recovery of the domestic economy and clearing the unease of the people, these are the things we have to address in the election,” Mr Aso told reporters.

Mr Aso’s candidacy for the September 22 vote in the Liberal Democratic Party was widely expected. He declared just hours after Mr Fukuda’s resignation address that he was “qualified” to lead the nation.

Multiple polls have showed him to be the clear favourite among citizens, who have expressed widespread disappointment at Mr Fukuda’s quick exit.

The ruling party election is expected to be followed on September 24 with a vote in parliament for prime minister. The party’s hold on the powerful lower house all but guarantees that the party president will be elected premier.

Five other candidates also moved closer to officially entering the race.

Economic minister Kaoru Yosano, who wants to rein-in government spending and raise taxes to whittle down Japan’s massive national debt, said today that he felt “it was his responsibility” to run to implement his policies.

Yuriko Koike, a former defence minister and TV anchorwoman, said she was getting closer to having the support necessary to enter the race. “Yesterday, conditions got a lot better, I can see blue skies now,” she said.

Nobuteru Ishihara, the son of Tokyo’s governor, said he is also working to get support from party members. Shigeru Ishiba, a former defence minister, and senior vice foreign minister Ichita Yamamoto also said today they would join the race.

Japan’s political and economic uncertainty has already taken a toll on its foreign relations. North Korea has told Tokyo it will put on hold its investigation into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by its spies in the 1970s and ’80s until a new prime minister is in place and his policies are clear.

Citing unidentified sources, Kyodo News agency reported that the new prime minister will dissolve parliament in October and call general elections for November in hopes of breaking the logjam in the legislature.