Seiji Maehara to contest Japan leadership race Skip to main content

Seiji Maehara to contest Japan leadership race

Seiji Maehara attends parliament on 23 August 2011 Mr Maehara, who resigned as foreign minister in March, is seen as popular with the electorate

Related Stories

Seiji Maehara has confirmed he plans to run in his party's leadership race, making him a key contender to succeed Naoto Kan as Japan's prime minister.
Announcing his candidacy, the former foreign minister said he would unite the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
The DPJ is expected to elect its new leader early next week.
Mr Kan is stepping down over plummeting approval ratings linked to his handling of the earthquake and tsunami aftermath.
Whoever wins the election will become Japan's sixth prime minister in five years.
Mr Maehara, 49, briefly led the DPJ in 2005 and is seen as popular with the electorate.
He resigned as Naoto Kan's foreign minister in March after receiving an illegal $3,000 (£1,810) political donation from a foreign national - an ethnic Korean living in Japan.

Revolving door

  • Naoto Kan (Jun 10-Aug 11) Lost support over handling of earthquake aftermath
  • Yukio Hatoyama (Sep 09-Jun 10) Failed to keep election promise on Okinawa US base
  • Taro Aso (Sep 08-Sep 09) Famed for verbal gaffes, lost election
  • Yasuo Fukuda (Sep 07-Sep 08) Struggled to pass laws after DPJ took control of upper house
  • Shinzo Abe (Sep 06-Sep 07) Unpopular government hit by scandal
He is expected to face Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Trade Minister Banri Kaieda and a number of others in the leadership contest.
"We must follows policies which address people's concerns and give them a feeling of security and hope," Mr Maehara said.
"Please allow me to stand at the helm of our efforts to overcome the national crisis with the help of every single one of you."
Mr Kan has said he will step down as prime minister once two key bills - on renewable energy and bond issuance - are passed by parliament, something that is due to take place this week.
He said he expected a new prime minister to be chosen by 30 August

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14627055

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do

Myanmar Villagers Tell of 150 Homes Burned in Deadly Army Air Attacks

Artillery fire and aerial bombardments by Myanmar forces killed three civilians and burned scores of houses in their communities in mid-March amid fighting between Myanmar forces and the rebel Arakan Army in war-ravaged Rakhine state, villagers recounted Monday at a press conference. Villagers from Kyauktaw township in western Myanmar's Rakhine state discuss the government military's attacks on their communities at press conference in Sittwe, March 30, 2020. They made the comments after traveling from in Kyauktaw township to the state capital Sittwe to give testimony on a series of attacks on civilian dwellings amid a government-imposed internet shutdown in nine townships in Rakhine and neighboring Chin state, cutting off vital information about the fighting. They villagers accused the Myanmar Army of conducting an aerial bombing on civilian communities that destroyed about 150 homes and a monastery in Pyaing Taing village, while government soldiers on the g