Shinshinto President Ichiro Ozawa finally abandoned efforts Friday to persuade Komei leader Tomio Fujii to drop the party's plan to field its own proportional representation candidates in next summer's Upper House election.
The failure to woo Komei's Upper House ranks is expected to lead more members of Shinshinto to call Ozawa's leadership into question at a time when the largest opposition party plans to hold its presidential election Thursday.
Shinshinto members did, however, decide to hold an election for party leader on Dec. 18, as scheduled. Sources said Ozawa has decided to run in the election. The fight for the leadership of the party is expected to develop into a feud between Ozawa and Michihiko Kano, Shinshinto's former head of public relations and a former Management and Coordination Agency chief.
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