2ND LD: Koizumi indicates he will endorse candidate in LDP race

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Jan. 11 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING MORE INFO)

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday indicated his intention to endorse a candidate to succeed him before a vote in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race this fall.

Koizumi expressed his view to reporters accompanying him during his current visit to Turkey.

If public approval of his Cabinet remains high, Koizumi's endorsement may practically lead to the selection of his successor.

Asked about qualifications for his successor, Koizumi, who doubles as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said the successor must be able to win parliamentary elections.

Moreover, the successor needs to steadily push the reforms launched by him, including postal privatization, Koizumi said.

He also said the dispute over his visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine should not be an issue in the race.

The premier said he will endorse a candidate after all candidates are registered and their positions on key issues become clear.

''Every candidate wants to fight electoral campaigns under the (LDP) president who is capable of winning elections,'' Koizumi said, adding that the ability to win the elections would be a ''major element'' in his endorsement.

Koizumi indicated displeasure about earlier remarks by former LDP Vice President Taku Yamasaki, who is also thought to be eager to succeed Koizumi, that the matter of Yasukuni should be discussed during the race.

''I have never raised the issue of Yasukuni from myself. It is a matter of the heart,'' he said.

Koizumi has defended his trips to the Shinto shrine in Tokyo and has criticized China and South Korea for cutting off dialogue with Japan due to the dispute.

He has repeatedly said that he visits the shrine to pledge that Japan will never wage war again and to pay tribute to the war dead.

Japan's Chief Secretary Shinzo Abe, who has shown interest in succeeding Koizumi as prime minister, said Tuesday that the dispute over Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni should not be an issue in the LDP race.

Koizumi's visits to the shrine in Tokyo, his latest on Oct. 17, have enraged China, South Korea and some other Asian countries because the shrine honors Class-A war criminals from World War II along with the Japanese war dead.

On the reorganization of government ministries as proposed by Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka and others, he showed a degree of understanding, saying, ''It is good to talk about it among experts.''

Koizumi said Japan had better overcome deflation soon. ''The sooner, the better. Within this year, if possible,'' he said.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning