Garnering a whopping 87 percent of the local vote in the LDP's presidential primaries, maverick reformer Junichiro Koizumi on Monday vowed to "destroy" forces standing against his reform agenda and launch a Cabinet free of the party's factional shackles.
"My political life will end if I fail to form a Cabinet that reflects the voice of the people," Koizumi told a crowd in Niigata Prefecture on the last day of his two-week campaign. "I will never give in to any pressure.
"Although the election will end tomorrow, the real fight will not end until the voice of the people destroys forces that are resisting reforms."