Monday, September 8, 2008 - 08:00
AFP News Briefs ListKoike launches bid to be Japan's first female PM
Yuriko Koike, a former television anchorwoman and defence minister, on Monday announced her bid to become Japan's first female prime minister.
Koike, 56, told a news conference she had secured the required 20 signatures from senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to run to succeed Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who resigned a week ago.
"I have received the enthusiastic support from my colleagues and have therefore decided to run in the presidential election," Koike told a news conference.
"In order to break through the deadlock facing Japanese society, I believe the country might as well have a female candidate," she said.
Koike is the first woman ever to run for president of the LDP, which has been in power for all but 10 months since 1955. The new party chief will then become prime minister.
But she will face a tough challenge from LDP Secretary General Taro Aso, a flamboyant former foreign minister who enjoys strong support in the countryside.
Aso is an advocate of government spending to boost the troubled economy, which is the largest in Asia. Koike is close to former premier Junichiro Koizumi, who advocated economic reforms to contain the ballooning public debt.
"The key word of my policies is reform," Koike said.
Koike, a former television journalist, is fluent in English and Arabic and has also served as Japan's environment minister.
