Koike eyes bid as Japan's first woman PM

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-04 14:15

TOKYO - Yuriko Koike emerged Wednesday as a possible contender to be Japan's first female prime minister, with heavyweights in the ailing ruling party urging her to challenge conservative favourite Taro Aso.

Former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, prospective candidate to be Japanese Prime Minister, attends the ceremonial first pitch prior to the professional baseball match between Tokyo Yakult Swallows and Chunichi Dragons at Jingu Stadium on September 3, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan. Koike will rival former Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who has already announced his candidacy after Yasuo Fukuda's abrupt resignation. [CFP]

Koike, 56, a former television anchorwoman who has been a defence minister and environment minister, has stayed coy on whether she will contest a party vote on September 22 to replace outgoing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

Fukuda, who has faced months of low poll ratings, announced his resignation Monday, plunging Japan's long-dominant ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) into crisis mode.

General elections must be held by September 2009, but the government is in trouble against an emboldened opposition while the economy, the world's second biggest, is teetering on the verge of recession.

"I want to consider what we need in general, rather than my own individual situation," Koike told reporters when asked if she would seek the top job.

"I'm contacting various people since you can't play a baseball game all by yourself."

Hidenao Nakagawa, the former number two of the party and a backroom fixer, hinted at his support for Koike, calling for a leader who backs free-market reforms that have lost steam in the past two years.

"We have to pick a candidate among reformists," Nakagawa said after meeting with Koike.

Koike, an expert on the Middle East and fluent in both English and Arabic, is known for her close ties with reformist premier Junichiro Koizumi, who was popular during his 2001-2006 tenure.

She belongs to the LDP's largest faction. Its head, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, voiced support for a competitive race.

The vote is for the LDP's president, who then becomes prime minister.

"All of us share the view that it's desirable for the LDP, which has been driven to the edge of a cliff in a sense, to hold an active, fair election to elect its president," said Machimura, the government number two.

But the Asahi Shimbun reported that 23 of the LDP's 47 prefectural chapters have already made up their minds to back Aso.

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