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Koizumi leads in PM race
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CHANCES of maverick reformist Junichiro Koizumi claiming Japan's premiership shot up yesterday as he grabbed a runaway lead in his party's primary ballots.
The dramatic twist in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race stirred up speculation Koizumi's biggest rival and former premier Ryutaro Hashimoto may withdraw if the duel develops into a runoff.
"Koizumi to be elected as new party leader," declared the Asahi Shimbun paper as the 59-year-old former welfare minister won 42 LDP branch votes in a primary election.
"I did not think I could win this much and emerge as number one," Koizumi told a television programme. "The simmering magma is coming to an explosion."
His early lead was out of the first 51 ballots cast by the 141 LDP local chapters, which gave just six votes to Hashimoto and three to Shizuka Kamei.
The staggering support for Koizumi dealt a severe blow to the 63-year-old Hashimoto, who was previously tipped as the front-runner.
Fourth contender Taro Aso, who is economic and fiscal policy minister, has still scored no points, losing to Koizumi even in his southern Japanese homeland of the Fukuoka chapter.
Voting in the other local chapters continues, but all major newspapers predicted Koizumi would further advance his lead, possibly snapping up more than 100 votes of the total 141.
The new LDP leader will be decided on Tuesday by votes from the party's lawmakers and the votes from its local chapters -- three votes each from the party's 47 prefectural branches.
If no contender wins a majority, a runoff election will follow the first round of balloting.
While Koizumi enjoys a stranglehold in the local chapter votes, Hashimoto, who secures the largest grouping of 102-strong faction, is seen likely to dominate the parliamentary votes.
Koizumi already moved to paint his picture for the new cabinet, vowing to break free from faction-tied appointments of ministers.(SD-Agencies)
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