Candidates race for Japan PM post

The race for the four contenders is likely to focus on reviving Japan's struggling economy

In this story: Upper House elections cast shadow To spend or not to spend Heavily in debt Runoff election RELATED STORIES, SITES

TOKYO, Japan -- Four contenders have kicked off their campaigns to replace embattled Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

The four are to register their candidacies on Thursday where they are expected to reveal their strategies to rescue Japan's feeble economy -- seen as the race's dominant theme.

IN-DEPTH Mori's difficult decision   •  Q & A: Who will replace Mori?   •  Japan: A nation in crisis   •  Japan: What needs to change?   •  Profile of Mori

Four ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politicians -- former prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, reformist Junichiro Koizumi, LDP policy chief Shizuka Kamei and Economics Minister Taro Aso -- will vie to become party president.

The LDP presidency virtually guarantees the job of prime minister given the majority held by the LDP-led coalition in parliament's powerful Lower House.

ALSO Hashimoto outlines reform plans

Strong favorite Hashimoto, head of the largest faction within the party, made a last-minute announcement he would run in the contest.

"I would like to be given a chance to tackle the challenges facing Japan," Hashimoto told a news conference, saying his goal was to legislate measures within 200 days to help the economy recover and banks to dispose of their massive sour loans.

Upper House elections cast shadow

Yoshiro Mori has proven to be one of the country's least popular leaders since WWII

But the usually predetermined race could get close if, as many expect, the campaign goes to a run-off vote and pitches Hashimoto against Koizumi.

Koizumi is seen as having wider public support and has already lived up to his reputation as an eccentric by ditching his LDP faction.

Regardless of who runs, Upper House elections in July are casting a shadow over the race and -- if the LDP fares as badly as many expect -- could force the winner to resign only three months into the job.

All four candidates are due to hold a joint news conference later on Thursday. They then have nearly two weeks to campaign before the April 24 election.

To spend or not to spend

Analysts expect the contest to revolve around conflicting economic policies aimed at digging Japan out of a ten-year downturn.

While Hashimoto is a self-proclaimed proponent of painful fiscal reform, he has toned down his views in a nod to the LDP's traditional support base -- farmers and small business.

"I would like to learn from the mistake I made three years ago," Hashimoto told the news conference.

Hashimoto's 1997 decision as prime minister to raise taxes and cut spending was widely blamed for tipping the economy into recession, setting the stage for an abysmal LDP performance in a 1998 Upper House election, a defeat that forced him to resign.

At the other end of the spectrum is Koizumi, who has long advocated the need to privatize the postal service as a step toward streamlining the government.

Koizumi said on Wednesday he wanted to address Japan's huge debt problem if he got the top job, starting by limiting the issuance of new government bonds around current levels.

Heavily in debt

A series of massive stimulus packages aimed at lifting the economy out of stagnation has landed Japan with the biggest debt burden of any industrialised country.

Kamei, 64, favors fiscal spending to keep the economy ticking over and is seen as anti-reform. His policy platform calls for tax cuts to boost flagging consumption.

Aso is likely to call for a quick resolution of the bad loans held by banks that have weighed on the economy for a decade.

"The biggest concern of the people is the economy," Aso told reporters on Thursday. "We are going through Japan's first postwar deflation and I want to stress the need for economic policies that differ from past measures."

Runoff election

LDP lawmakers will cast their ballots on April 24 with an additional 141 votes cast by LDP chapters in Japan's 47 prefectures.

In the event that no candidate wins a majority, which analysts consider the most likely scenario, a head-to-head run-off between the two leading candidates will be held.

Although Hashimoto is seen as having the strongest hand, the race is unusually open and a sharp contrast to the secretive selection last year of Mori.

A series of verbal gaffes and scandals pushed Mori's popularity ratings into single figures, finally forcing him to announce his resignation last week.

Mori assumed office last April after Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered a fatal stroke in office.

Mori has proven to be one of the country's least popular leaders since World War II, with support ratings under 10 percent.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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