A leadership battle is under way in Japan's ruling Liberal Democrat Party. The country's beleaguered Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori, has signalled that he is to resign.
Mr Mori expressed his intention to go when he told senior members of the LPD on Saturday that he would bring forward elections for party leader from September to April.
The move is seen as a face-saving exit strategy for the Prime Minister after weeks of controversy, public blunders and scandals which forced the resignation of three of his cabinet ministers.
However, the dithering about Mr Mori's future could not have come at a worse time for the economy, which is showing signs of slipping into recession. Interest rates are almost at zero, and the stock market has hit a 15-year low.
On Friday the government published a package of emergency measures aimed at halting the slide in share prices and boosting the economy.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, in Japan to lead an Enterprise Ireland trade mission, is scheduled to meet Mr Mori on Wednesday.
Mr Mori told the top five LDP leaders he had decided to bring forward an election for the party presidency due in September, the LDP secretary-general confirmed yesterday. In Japanese politics this amounts to an offer to resign, as the winner of the LDP election is effectively guaranteed the premiership because of the party's numerical strength in the lower house.
The party is anxious to have the leadership issue resolved before July's crucial upper house elections.
Mr Mori's planned meetings with President Bush, in Washington next Monday, and with the Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, on March 25th will more than likely be the last major events marking his leadership.
The next LDP leader will be Japan's 11th prime minister in 13 years.
The LDP leadership will likely hold an election next month to choose Mr Mori's successor, once the Prime Minister officially declares his plan to resign after the budget and related bills clear parliament.
LDP deputies and representatives of the party chapters are calling for a full-scale leadership election involving not only Diet members but also the party's rank-and-file. However, the party leaders want to restrict voting to Diet members, saying a full-scale poll would take too long to organise.
The secretary-general of the LDP, Mr Hiromu Nonaka, who helped select Mr Mori for the top job last April, is considered the front-runner for the leadership even though he has denied any intention to succeed him.
The former prime minister Mr Ryutaro Hashimoto, a proponent of fiscal restructuring who resigned after the LDP lost the last upper house election in 1998 and now a minister in Mr Mori's cabinet, is another contender, as are the Trade Minister, Mr Takeo Hiranuma, and the Economics Minister, Mr Taro Aso.
