A preliminary election tomorrow for the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party will decide how a total of 141 votes cast by representatives of the party's local blocs will be shared among the four candidates. Final results will be determined by the election in which 246 LDP Diet members will cast their decisive ballots on Friday.

The four candidates are: Ryutaro Hashimoto, former prime minister and currently minister in charge of administrative reform, Okinawa and affairs related to the Northern Territories; Junichiro Koizumi, former health and welfare minister; Shizuka Kamei, chairman of the party's policy research council; and Taro Aso, minister for economic and fiscal policy.

At this stage of campaigning for the preliminary election, Koizumi is reported to be leading the other three, but not by a margin wide enough to ensure his final victory. Hashimoto, who enjoys majority support among Diet members, may turn the tables in Friday's election. Alternatively, the new party president may have to be decided by a runoff election between Koizumi and Hashimoto if none of the candidates wins a majority in the first ballot among the LDP Diet members.