(Update) Kamikawa Announces Bid for LDP Presidency

   Tokyo, Sept. 11 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Wednesday that she will run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election on Sept. 27.
   It is the first time for Kamikawa, 71, to run in an LDP leadership poll. She became the second woman to announce a candidacy in the upcoming race, after economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 63.
   "As prime minister, I will confront difficult challenges and thoroughly fulfill accountability," Kamikawa told a press conference.
   She said that she would support efforts to open a section of the Chuo Shinkansen magnetic levitation train line ahead of the current plan of 2027 or later. She is elected to parliament from the central prefecture of Shizuoka, whose previous governor opposed some construction work related to the maglev line.
   On whether she would give the party's backing in elections to lawmakers embroiled in a slush funds scandal, Kamikawa said, "It's the basic position to follow the rule of endorsing those who are the heads of party branches for each constituency."

(2024/09/11-17:14)

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