Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada reiterated Wednesday that he would support the re-election of Prime Minister Naoto Kan in the Sept. 14 Democratic Party of Japan presidential election.
"We just chose Prime Minister Kan a few months ago and he is just now getting started to work," Okada said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. "I personally feel it is desirable for Prime Minister Kan to stay on so that he will be able to adequately fulfill his responsibilities."
Okada's comments came amid speculation that the former DPJ leader, Ichiro Ozawa, who stepped down as the party's secretary general in June over a political funds scandal, may take on Kan in the DPJ presidential poll, campaigning for which officially kicks off Sept. 1.