Contenders prepare to take on Koizumi to lead party

Accompanied by former prime minister Yoshiro Mori, left, and other party politicians, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, center, raises his arm to kick off an official campaign for the presidential election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party at its headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Campaigning for elections to choose a new head of Japan's ruling party began yesterday with three senior lawmakers launching a bitter attack on incumbent Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic policies.

Koizumi, who has held the post since April 2001, has high public approval ratings and is seen as the solid leader in the race. But his three rivals opened their campaigns yesterday with stinging attacks on his efforts to revive Japan's sickly economy.

"We can't allow an administration that has caused so much pain to the people to continue," former construction minister Shizuka Kamei said before formally submitting his name at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters.

"We see our factories closing, the doors of our storefronts shuttered," he added later. "An American-style society where the weak are devoured is forming."

The party presidential elections are to be held on Sept. 20. The winner is virtually assured of becoming prime minister because the party is the largest in parliament and controls the government in an arrangement with two junior coalition partners.

Though a longshot, Kamei is expected to be Koizumi's most serious threat. He has slammed Koizumi's austerity policies, saying they have sent thousands of small businesses into bankruptcy and prompted record numbers of Japanese to commit suicide.

Kamei has also suggested as much as a ?50 trillion (US$424 billion) stimulus package to turn the world's second-largest economy around. Kamei's fellow contenders -- former transportation minister Takao Fujii and former foreign minister Masahiko Komura -- also advocate spending more to drive economic growth.

Koizumi, undaunted, is sticking by his vows to hold down government spending and force banks to dispose of their bad loans. He also promises to privatize Japan's huge postal service.

"I will do all I can to win, and to pursue the structural reforms that I have promised," Koizumi said. "That is all I have to say."