Opposition LDP to pick new leader on Monday as it works on renewal+

TOKYO, Sept. 27 Kyodo - The leading opposition Liberal Democratic Party will choose its new leader on Monday as the once-dominant party seeks to revitalize itself in the wake of its
drubbing in a recent national election and subsequent fall from power.

Running in the race are former Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, 64, and two
younger LDP members -- former Senior Vice Justice Minister Taro Kono and former
Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, both 46.
Tanigaki, a party heavyweight whose past portfolio includes minister of finance
and chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council, is ahead in the race and
likely to capture about half of the 199 ballots allotted to party Diet members,
party sources said earlier.
But the outcome of the election may be affected by who can collect the largest
number of the remaining 300 votes cast by local party members in the nation's
47 prefectures.
Although Tanigaki, a mild-mannered policy expert, appears to be increasing his
support among local party members and maintains an overall lead, Kono, a
maverick and fiery critic of the LDP old guard and their faction-based
politics, is also said to be gaining ground with party members.
If none of the candidates gets more than half the total votes, a runoff
election will be held between the two leading contestants. Only party Diet
members would cast ballots at the second stage.
Nishimura appears to be rivaling Kono with regard to Diet members' votes but
lags behind the other two among local party members due partly to his low name
recognition.
The Kono camp is hoping to go into a runoff with Tanigaki and pick up the votes
of younger party members who had backed Nishimura in the first round, people
close to Kono say. But his camp is concerned that turnout could be lower than
expected with local party members' mailed votes slow to come in.
Tanigaki, Kono and Nishimura submitted their candidacies to pick the 24th LDP
president for a three-year term on Sept. 18, two days after Taro Aso resigned
as party president and premier and Yukio Hatoyama took office as new prime
minister.
Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan trounced the LDP in the Aug. 30 House of
Representatives election, ending the LDP's almost continuous rule since it was
founded by Hatoyama's grandfather 54 years ago.
On the campaign trail in the presidential election, Kono and Nishimura tried to
paint the race as a choice between the younger and older generations, calling
for a clean break with faction-based politics, which has defined the LDP for
decades.
Tanigaki, in contrast, appealed for reconciliation and unity within a party
often prone to internal strife, calling on all party members, both young and
old, to come together to forge a path toward party renewal.
Whoever wins the leadership race, the LDP faces the daunting task of reviving a
party that has lost almost two-thirds of its members in the 480-seat House of
Representatives.
The crucial test for a new LDP leader will be the House of Councillors election
next summer. In the 242-seat upper house, the DPJ retains a majority with the
help of its two junior coalition partners -- the Social Democratic Party and
the People's New Party.
If the LDP can increase its presence in the chamber as the largest opposition
party and force the DPJ-led ruling coalition to lose its majority there, it
will be able to block or delay the coalition's legislative attempts.
The immediate test for the new leadership will come Oct. 25, when by-elections
for the upper house are to be held in two constituencies, in Kanagawa and
Shizuoka prefectures.
The by-elections, expected to pit DPJ and LDP candidates against each other,
will be the first national-level elections since the Hatoyama Cabinet was
formed Sept. 16.
Monday's LDP leadership election will be only the second presidential election
to be held while the party is out of power, following the 1993 leadership race,
in which Kono's father, former lower house Speaker Yohei Kono, was chosen.
==Kyodo