Heizo Takenaka

Official campaigning for the election got under way June 24.

Takenaka, a former professor of economics at Keio University, said at a June 22 news conference at LDP headquarters in Tokyo that he has experienced the limits of a non-politician's ability to promote the economic reforms that he and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi have supported.

Takenaka, 53, is an advocate of austere fiscal policies and stricter rules on the lending practices of financial institutions.

Because of this, he has been criticized by many LDP members for hurting small companies in provincial areas -- a traditional support base for the party.

One complaint from some LDP members is that a non-Diet member -- someone who has not been given a mandate by voters -- should not be allowed to exert such a huge influence over the fate of so many businesses, much less the nation's economy.

"It would be rude and even impossible to promote further reforms without being entrusted" with a mandate by voters, said Takenaka.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 3, 2004
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