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Aso likely to become Premier

SINGAPORE: The former Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Aso, placed himself at a striking distance for becoming Prime Minister, when he on Monday won a multi-cornered contest for the post of president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

With the LDP being the dominant partner in the governing coalition, which holds a commanding majority in the powerful House of Representatives, 68-year-old Mr. Aso is tipped to become Prime Minister when Parliament chooses a leader in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The prime ministerial election follows the resignation of Yasuo Fukuda on September 1 in the face of consistently poor public opinion ratings in an overall climate of economic slow-down.

Mr. Aso, grandson of Shigeru Yoshida who played a key role in shaping the politics of post-imperial Japan after the Second World War, is popular as an avid comics enthusiast and a former Olympian.

Mr. Aso, who first carved a niche role for himself under charismatic Junichiro Koizumi’s prime ministerial tenure, later used his position as Foreign Minister to evolve a proactive role for Japan on the international stage. Mr. Aso is credited with evolving the idea of a quadrilateral forum of Asia-Pacific democracies, consisting of the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia.

In the LDP race on Monday, Mr. Aso secured 351 of 527 votes at a plenary of LDP law-makers and prefectural representatives. In the process, Yuriko Koike, the first-ever woman candidate for the top party post came third, by a long distance, in a field of five. Speculation is rife that Mr. Aso will call an early general election to seek a mandate of his own.

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