The race for the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party officially got under way Tuesday as former Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama, Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi filed their candidacies.
The candidates have unanimously called for aggressive fiscal measures to reflate the ailing economy, and the campaign is expected to intensify in the runup to Friday, when the party's Diet members and representatives from local chapters will vote for their next leader.
At a joint news conference at LDP headquarters in Tokyo in the afternoon, the three candidates pledged to regain international confidence in Japan by reviving the economy. Obuchi expressed confidence that the economy will pick up steam once his stimulus pledges, including a 6 trillion yen tax cut, are implemented.