Japan ruling party picks brash Aso

Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Taro Aso smiles prior to the ruling party presidential election voting at the party headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 22, 2008. Japan's troubled ruling party has elected brash former Foreign Minister Aso as its new leader.
(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

By JOSEPH COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Sep 22, 4:29 AM ET

TOKYO - Brash conservative Taro Aso easily won the presidency of Japan's struggling ruling party Monday, virtually ensuring his election as prime minister later this week amid political and economic turmoil.

Aso, 68, a former foreign minister and grandson of a prominent prime minister, received 351 of the 525 votes cast in the Liberal Democratic Party ballot. His triumph over four rivals had been widely expected.

The former Olympic skeetshooter immediately vowed to rejuvenate his troubled party and lead it to victory in as-yet-unscheduled elections in the powerful lower house of parliament.

"Who else but our party can achieve policies in order to address the public's concerns?" Aso said at LDP headquarters. "I am committed to winning the elections and take a further step to achieve economic recovery and pursue reforms."



Aso, a sharp-tongued conservative who favors the alliance with the U.S. and a diplomatically assertive Japan, backs government spending to revive the flagging economy and has said he would not raise the consumption tax anytime soon.

Aso is all but guaranteed to be elected prime minister in the LDP-dominated parliament on Wednesday, making him the third leader Japan has had since September 2006 — and the first Roman Catholic to hold the job.

Outgoing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda threw the political world into disarray three weeks ago when he abruptly announced he would step down after only a year in office, weary of battling with a divided parliament.

The LDP runs the lower house, but the opposition took control of the upper house in elections last year, and has repeatedly embarrassed his government by blocking or delaying high-profile legislation.

The next prime minister will face mounting pressure to renew the LDP's mandate by calling early lower house elections — possibly as soon as next month.

The opposition immediately renewed its attacks, arguing the LDP has no right to govern until it proves it has public support.

"If he wants to be prime minister, he should wait until voters decide who should head the country in the general elections," Naoto Kan, a leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told TBS television.

The turmoil at the top is raising worries about how the country will handle its economic troubles. Inflation is up and growth has stalled, effectively ending a lengthy period of expansion. The financial meltdown in the United States, a leading market for Japanese autos, electronics and other vital exports, has intensified the fear.

"Concerns about the political vacuum are growing as the LDP eyes a leadership battle with the opposition party," the Nikkei business newspaper said in a commentary Monday. "The public is closely watching if Aso can promptly demonstrate his leadership."

As prime minister, Aso would bring a colorful personality to a post that has suffered in the two years since Junichiro Koizumi — a silver-maned leader who publicly imitated Elvis Presley during a trip to Graceland — left office.

Koizumi's nationalist successor, Shinzo Abe, quit after only a year amid scandals and his own health troubles. The dour Fukuda, considered at first an experienced hand, failed to energize the party or draw voter interest.

Aso, however, is likely to make headlines from day one.

He has riled Beijing by calling China a military threat, angered Asians by claiming that Taiwan's educational success is rooted in Japanese wartime colonial policies, and compared the leading opposition party to the Nazis.

Aso, however, is also a determined competitor. He lost three LDP presidential races over the past seven years before finally winning on Monday. After losing to Fukuda last year, he vanished from the political stage for nearly a year until he returned in August as the No. 2 in command in the LDP — and Fukuda's presumed heir.

The ruling party drummed up a considerable amount of publicity over the past couple of weeks by crowding the presidential race with a total of five candidates, even though it was widely assumed Aso would win.

The competitors included former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, the first woman to run for LDP president. She came in third place, with 46 votes. Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano was second with 66 votes.

Political analyst Minoru Morita said the fate of Aso's government depends on the results of the parliamentary election, in which his party could lose a large number of seats in the lower house.

"As the LDP's grip on power is weakening, Aso could end up not being able to achieve anything," Morita said.

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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.