YAMAGATA (Kyodo) Speculation continues to mount that Prime Minister Taro Aso's days are numbered, as his political foes step up their attacks following the recent resignation of one of his closest Cabinet allies, but signs of his administration's decline were already evident weeks ago during an election in the Tohoku region.
In the January Yamagata gubernatorial election, Mieko Yoshimura, a 57-year-old newcomer backed by the Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties, defeated Hiroshi Saito, the 51-year-old incumbent supported by Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Both sides sent prominent lawmakers, including DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa and LDP acting Secretary General Nobuteru Ishihara, to stump for their candidates, giving the local poll the air of a prelude to the national election that must be held by the fall.