Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda will not be attending a high-profile panel discussion next week by prospective candidates for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2006/nn20060721a2a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='358'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Yasuo Fukuda </B> KYODO PHOTO</FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>Fukuda's cancellation is fueling speculation that he may not run in the party's September poll, which, because of the LDP's dominance, is also expected to determine who will be the next prime minister.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Four politicians widely considered as prospective candidates, including Fukuda, had planned to attend as panelists at the July 28 meeting to be organized by the LDP's Tokyo chapter.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>But party sources said Thursday that Fukuda canceled his attendance, which was reported to a meeting of chapter officials the same day, the sources said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The other three politicians are front-runner Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who will be overseas and plans to send a video message to the meeting.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>' –

told (the party branch) he won't attend. The reason was not clearly explained," an LDP source said.

Supporters for Fukuda have urged him to publicly express his plan to run to draw media attention and build support in the party.

But Fukuda has remained silent, disappointing LDP lawmakers who want him to be the next prime minister. He has refused to attend a number of public meetings where he could have discussed his own policy ideas.

The July 28 meeting should have been the first discussion to be attended by all four at once. Policy debates had been expected to take place among the four, thus it had drawn the attention of political observers.