Koike says won’t seek seat

TOKYO: Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike ( pix) named 192 candidates yesterday for her new party that aims to wrest power from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but insisted she would not stand herself in the October 22 election.

The former TV anchorwoman has shaken up Japan’s usually sleepy political scene by launching her “Party of Hope”, vowing a break with the old school represented by Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Koike plans eventually to have at least 233 candidates for the snap election – giving her a theoretical chance of taking a majority in the lower house of Japan’s 465-seat Diet.

Asked by reporters if she planned to run in the election, Koike said “100% no”. “I’ve been saying that from the beginning.” Tomoaki Iwai, professor of politics at Nihon University, said her reluctance to go all in would overshadow her party’s campaign.

“She appears to have concluded that she may not be able to take power this time. She thinks this is not a decisive moment.”

More than half the candidates presented by Koike were ex-members of the Democratic Party (DP) – previously Japan’s main opposition party – which imploded last week.

The election is now effectively a threehorse race between the conservative LDP, Koike’s party and a new centre-left party made up of former DP members. – AFP