Fukuda set to become Japan's prime minister

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TOKYO, SEPT 23 (AP): Moderate veteran Yasuo Fukuda easily won election as president of Japan's struggling ruling party Sunday, assuring his selection as the new prime minister in a parliamentary vote later this week.
Fukuda won 330 votes to former Foreign Minister Taro Aso's 197 votes, the party announced, giving Fukuda 63 per cent of the ballots. Fukuda, 71, the son of a prime minister from the 1970s, has vowed to keep his country in the fight against terrorism, improve relations with Asia and address inequalities in the world's second-largest economy.
Fukuda vowed after the vote to rebuild the popularity of the LDP, which has plunged under a year of scandals and policy missteps by outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been hospitalised since announcing on Sept. 12 that he would resign.
"You have chosen me even though I do not have much experience. I am prepared to do my utmost to live up to my responsibilities," a determined-looking, unsmiling Fukuda said. "I will work to revitalise the LDP, to win back public trust, and push forward with my policies."
The parliament was scheduled to vote Tuesday, but Fukuda was guaranteed to win because of the LDP's vast majority in the lower house, the more powerful of the two chambers.
Earlier in the day, Fukuda outlined his key policies: further engage North Korea diplomatically, push for extension of Japan's naval mission in support of US-led forces in Afghanistan, and give aid to rural regions left behind by the economic recovery. Fukuda, who served as chief Cabinet secretary from 2000 to 2004, had the support of the major factions of the LDP.