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TOKYO: Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan is gaining support in his fight to keep his job ahead of next week's challenge from strongman Ichiro Ozawa for the ruling party's leadership, media said Friday.
Kan was earlier seen trailing behind Ozawa, a veteran powerbroker, ahead of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) election slated for next Tuesday.
But the two men now share about equal support from the total 411 DPJ lawmakers, although dozens still remain undecided, according to surveys by national broadcaster NHK and the Sankei Shimbun newspaper.
Kan has a slight edge over his rival as he enjoys wider support among lay party members, NHK and the Sankei said.
Ozawa, who leads the largest party faction, has remained unpopular among the general public because of his image as a secretive powerbroker and the taint of money scandals that have seen several of his aides indicted.
The two men represent the different wings of the broadly centre-left party which a year ago ousted the conservative Liberal Democratic Party after their more than half a century of almost unbroken rule.
Ozawa, 68, is a veteran powerbroker who years ago defected from the conservatives. He has since earned nicknames such as the "Destroyer" for his record of creating and splitting parties.
Kan, 63, started political life as a left-wing grassroots activist and shot to fame when, during a brief stint as health minister, he uncovered official culpability in an HIV-tainted blood scandal.
The election for president of the ruling party on September 14 is an internal vote, but the public's opinions are likely to be taken into account by lawmakers, local assembly members and others with voting rights.
The winner is set to become the next prime minister through a separate vote by the lower house of parliament, where the DPJ commands a majority.
The intense leadership fight has threatened to divide the ruling party and comes amid a slowing recovery of the country's fragile export-led economy.
If Ozawa wins, he would become Japan's sixth prime minister in four years.
-AFP/wk
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