Koizumi reelected LDP president, to reshuffle cabinet

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 21, 2003

Koizumi reelected LDP president, to reshuffle cabinet

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was reelected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a party poll Saturday.

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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was reelected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a party poll Saturday.

Of a total of 657 ballots, the 61-year-old Koizumi won 399, of which, 194 were from party lawmakers and 205 from rank-and-file party members.

During the hour-long voting, 357 party lawmakers cast ballots. Additionally, votes cast by about 1.4 million local supporters by Friday were tallied into 300 ballots and counted before the winnerwas declared around 3 p.m. (0600 GMT).

Koizumi was first elected president of the LDP in April 2001, after the resignation of the then president Yoshiro Mori. Afterwards, he won the regular presidential election in August that year.

Under the revised party rules after the 2001 election, Koizumi's new term is to last for three years instead of two. It also means he will keep his post as premier if the LDP wins the next general election, which Koizumi is likely to call in November after dissolving the House of Representatives next month.

The three candidates competing with Koizumi in the just-ended race for party leadership were former Transport Minister Takao Fujii, who posted 65 votes; former LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Shizuka Kamei, who won 139; and former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, who got 54.

Koizumi's victory was attributed to his popularity in rank-and-file party members and the dismantling of opposition factions within lawmaker members.

Just before the campaign started on Sept. 8, Mikio Aoki, who heads the LDP caucus of the House of Councilors, announced his backing for Koizumi. This move split the party's biggest faction led by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and led to the retirement of the faction's heavyweight Hiromu Nonaka, who felt angry at the defection of colleagues.

As the LDP has introduced the election system combining single seat constituencies with proportional representations, the traditional faction-swarmed structure would be reshaped, said Masayuki Fukuoka, a guest professor at Ritsunmeikan University, adding factions in the party would be reduced to two or three.

Fukuoka said Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara may take advantage of LDP's confusion to launch a new political party vying with Koizumi for Japan's leadership next year.

Koizumi's victory has barely been a surprise as media polls have shown his huge leading edge over the other three. But he is also expected to face difficulties in pushing forward his structural reforms in the long run and reshuffle cabinet in short term.

Koizumi has vowed to continue to cut back on public expenditures, reduce non-performing loans, privatize the nation's post services and highway construction groups, while his opponents argue the most imperative task is pulling Japan out of decade-odd economic recession by taking pump-priming measures.

In connection with the cabinet reshuffle Koizumi is expected to make in the next two days, Aoki and former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori have reportedly asked Koizumi to remove Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the LDP, and threatened to reconsider their support to Koizumi if he fails to do so. But so far, Koizumi has made no suggestion to sack his right hand.

With regard to other cabinet members, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, whom Koizumi referred as "an indispensable man" on Friday, is very likely to survive the reshuffle.

Heizo Takenaka, head of the powerful Financial Service Agency, may lose his post but be kept in cabinet, analysts said.

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