The odds are getting better that former transport minister Takao Fujii will run in the LDP's upcoming presidential election, party sources said Monday.
He will likely be backed by House of Representatives members who belong to an intraparty faction led by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.
However, the faction's members in the House of Councilors, led by LDP heavyweight Mikio Aoki, remain opposed to fielding anybody as an official faction candidate, the sources said.