Jul 25 04:51 AM US/EasternTOKYO, July 25 (AP) - (Kyodo)—An overwhelming majority of local branch leaders of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan favor current leader Ichiro Ozawa's reelection in the DPJ's leadership contest in September, a Kyodo News survey showed Friday.
Representatives of 39 of the 47 DPJ prefectural branches, or 83 percent of the total, expressed their wish for Ozawa to stay at the helm of the party, according to the survey conducted earlier this month.
Of the 47 representatives, 10 said Ozawa should be reelected unopposed without a ballot, while 23 favored a vote with two or more contenders. The remaining 14 did not provide a clear answer.
Ozawa is widely expected to run again in the September leadership race. Many party lawmakers have expressed support for Ozawa, who led the DPJ to a landslide victory in the House of Councillors election in July 2007.
He was first elected to the DPJ presidency in April 2006, succeeding Seiji Maehara, who resigned amid confusion stemming from a fake e-mail message used by a party lawmaker during a Diet session to attack a senior ruling party lawmaker.
Ozawa, who completed Maehara's remaining term of office, was reelected to a full two-year term in September that year.
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