Japan's Maehara eyes race for next PM
TOKYO: Seiji Maehara, who has listed escaping deflation as a top policy priority, is in the final stages of preparing to run in a party leadership race to pick Japan's next premier, Jiji news agency said on Monday.
Maehara's entry would cloud the outlook for fiscal conservative Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda's bid for the nation's highest post.
Noda, 54, had hoped to win the backing of Maehara, 49 -- who ranks the most popular among voters in recent polls -- for his push to replace unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who is expected this week to confirm his intention to quit.
The party election to pick Japan's sixth leader in five years comes as the country grapples with a resurgent yen and struggles to rebuild from a massive March tsunami and end a nuclear crisis at the crippled Fukushima plant, while curbing its huge public debt and tackling the ills of an ageing society.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
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