Ex-News Anchor In Japan Aims To Be Premier
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TOKYO — Japan’s first female defense minister has said she will seek the position of prime minister by taking on the “old boys” of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Yuriko Koike, a former television news anchor, opened her campaign with a promise to rejuvenate the world’s second-largest economy if she is selected to replace Yasuo Fukuda. He resigned last week after just a year in office. She is the first woman to seek the LDP leadership.
Ms. Koike will stand against three candidates – including General Taro Aso, the front-runner and party secretary – for the party vote on September 22.
She said the keyword of her campaign would be “reform” and that she intends to introduce an environmental tax to fight global warming. Announcing her campaign at LDP headquarters, she said: “I have received the enthusiastic support of my colleagues.
“In order to break through the deadlock facing Japanese society, I believe the country might as well have a female candidate.”
