‘Koizumi should lead the ruling party till 2007’

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi should lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for an extra year beyond his September 2006 term of office and revamp the party, a senior LDP official was quoted on Sunday as saying. Koizumi has said he would not allow 37 rebels in the lower house to run on the LDP ticket in next month’s parliamentary election, effectively forcing them to run as independents or form new parties. He called a Sept. 11 general election after members of the old guard within the LDP helped to defeat bills to privatise the postal system, a decision that has led to a surge in his popularity. The LDP had 249 members in the lower house before it was dissolved. Koizumi, who came to power in April 2001 and is already the longest-serving prime minister since former prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, has repeatedly said he would step down when his second three-year term as LDP president ends next September. reuters

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