Reformist Junichiro Koizumi made a clean sweep of all eight primaries reporting results Saturday in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race, dramatically increasing his chances of victory Tuesday over early favorite Ryutaro Hashimoto.
An influential member of Hashimoto's faction in the LDP, which is the party's largest, said the former prime minister has little chance of defeating Koizumi if the results from the party's local chapters continue to go against him.
Returns showed that former Health and Welfare Minister Koizumi, 59, won in all eight prefectures in which the LDP's local chapters counted votes Saturday. The eight were Chiba, Gifu, Niigata, Hyogo, Tokushima, Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Saga. Hashimoto, who has yet to win a chapter vote, told reporters Saturday evening, "It's only the beginning. I will fight and do my best until the time is up. That's all."