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WORLD / Possible Successors

Possible candidates to succeed resigning Abe

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-13 11:20

A look at possible candidates to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who
announced Wednesday he will resign after a string of damaging scandals
and a humiliating electoral defeat:

-- Taro Aso, 66. Former foreign minister and currently No. 2 in the
ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Aso, who contested Abe in the ruling
party leadership race in September 2006, is widely seen as leading
contender for prime minister. Known as an outspoken conservative, Aso
also served as internal affairs minister and top planning chief under
Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. During his stint as foreign
minister Sino-Japanese relations declined, partially through his branding
China a "military threat". Grandson of the late Prime Minister Shigeru
Yoshida.

-- Sadakazu Tanigaki, 62. Finance minister under Koizumi and former
minister in charge of industrial revitalization. Also ran against Abe in
the LDP leadership race. A lawyer before entering the government,
Tanigaki has stressed the need for Japan to repair relations with
neighbors China and South Korea.

-- Yasuo Fukuda, 71. A former top government spokesman, Fukuda was one of
the leading contenders, along with Abe, Aso and Tanigaki, to replace
Koizumi. But he dropped out before the formal race, citing his age. Son
of former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, he worked in a petroleum company
and later served as political secretary to his father. Known as a foreign
policy dove, Fukuda has argued for closer ties with China and opposes
visits by Japanese leaders to a Tokyo war shrine.

-- Junichiro Koizumi, 65. Former prime minister, widely popular as much
for his reformist agenda as his silvery mop-top and passion for Elvis
Presley. Koizumi swept the 2005 parliamentary elections with a dramatic
campaign, fielding celebrity candidates and purging anti-reform lawmakers
from his party. But the former leader also damaged relations with China
and South Korea during his 2001-2006 tenure by repeatedly visiting?the
Tokyo war?shrine.

-- Kaoru Yosano, 69. Appointed chief Cabinet secretary in a recent
reshuffle, Yosano has served as trade minister and education minister and
is known as a strong supporter of fiscal reform. Worked at a nuclear
power operator after graduating from Tokyo University's prestigious law
school, and became secretary to former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone
in 1968.

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