Media exaggerating Obuchi’s prospects: Aide

TOKYO, July 22: A top aide of the front-runner to be Japan’s next prime minister, Keizo Obuchi, today said the Foreign Minister’s prospects for the post were not as “sweet” as media reports suggested.

Seeking to dampen speculation that the 61-year-old Obuchi had the job all but locked up two days before a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) vote on Friday, the aide said the race was still open.

“The prospects for Obuchi’s election are not as sweet as some media reports suggest. We want to see the documents on which they (the media) base their assessments,” state Minister for Hokkaido and Okinawa Muneo Suzuki said. In a report on Wednesday the daily Yomiuri Shimbun said Obuchi appeared to have already locked up around 180 of the 207 votes needed for a majority in the election for president of the LDP, that’s to take place on Friday.