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Japan eyes moderate elder as its new prime minister
Associated Press
Published September 23, 2007
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's year in office has been a disaster for the ruling party: Scandals sapped voter faith in the government and the opposition won elections for the Parliament's upper house, while unattended economic and social problems festered. Hoping to reverse the slide in fortunes, the Liberal Democratic Party was expected to pick moderate party elder Yasuo Fukuda as its new leader today, a victory that assures the political blue blood's selection as Abe's replacement in a parliamentary vote two days later. Fukuda, 71, is the son of a prime minister who served in the 1970s. He has posed as the antidote to the Abe problem, pledging to put the party's house in order, keep Japan firmly in the fight against terrorism and address the widening inequalities in the world's second-largest economy. Fukuda, who served as chief Cabinet secretary from 2000 to 2004, has the support of the major factions of the LDP. The Asahi newspaper on Saturday predicted he would get 67 percent of national LDP lawmaker votes, with substantial support from local LDP chapters. Fukuda said he would work to stem the income gap between poorer rural areas and wealthy urban zones, while opponent Taro Aso acknowledged he was running a distant second Saturday.
[Last modified September 23, 2007, 01:31:13]
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