WORLD
Page 14
THE BATTALION
Obuchi’s coma leads to
search for new successor
TOKYO (AP) — Prime Minister
Keizo Obuchi was on life support Mon
day after a stroke, leaving the Japanese
government to grapple with a leadership
crisis and the possibility of dissolving the
Cabinet and finding a successor.
Despite assurances Ifom officials that
Japan would not veer from its economic and
political course, speculation was rife that
Obuchi’s illness could plunge Japan into tur
moil and possibly lead to early elections.
However, the political establishment
appeared to be moving quickly to name
a successor to the prime minister, with
media reports saying the Cabinet could
resign as early as this week so a new one
can be formed. With that as a possibili
ty, it appeared likely that Chief Cabinet
Secretary Mikio Aoki, who took over as
acting prime minister on Monday, would
be able to keep the government togeth
er until then.
There was also public anger over the
way the government handled the news of
Obuchi’s illness, waiting nearly 24 hours
to announce that he had been hospitalized
and leaving the public in the dark about
the seriousness of his condition for 12
more hours.
Aoki defended the government’s
actions.
“When the prime minister went to the
hospital initially, all he said was he was
n't feeling well,” Aoki said. “We never
thought things would turn out this way.”
Tokyo's private TBS television net
work quoted unidentified doctors late
Monday as saying that Obuchi was clin
ically brain dead.
The prime minister’s office said it
could not confirm the report, and officials
at Tokyo’s Juntendo University 1 lospital
were unavailable late Monday.
Who will succeed
Obuchi?
After Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was placed on
life support Monday as a result of a stroke, the
Japanese government is grappling with a leadership
crisis and the necessity of finding a successor.
Prime Minister
Keizo Obuchi
Mikio Aoki, 65
Chief Cabinet secretary
► Named acting prime minister on Monday.
► Worked early in his political career for Noboru Takeshita,
a Liberal Democratic Party power broker, who eventually
became prime minister in the late 1980s.
► Named chief Cabinet secretary by Obuchi last October.
Yohei Kono, 63
Foreign minister
First elected to parliament in 1967.
Graduate of Waseda University.
President of the LDP in 1993.
Deputy prime minister in 1994.
Considered one of his party’s lop foreign policy experts.
Yoshiro Mori, 62
LDP leader
► First elected to parliament in 1969.
► Graduate of Waseda University.
► Served 10 terms in parliament.
► Held a number of party and government positions,
including Construction Minister and Minister of International
Trade and Industry.
Source: Compiled from AP wire reports
Wm. J. Castello/AP
Obuchi, 62, was hospitalized early
Sunday after complaining of fatigue. 1 lis
condition deteriorated rapidly, and Aoki
announced on Monday that Obuchi had
suffered a stroke and was in a coma. He
was put on a respirator. His wife,
Chizuko, was reportedly at his side.
President Clinton praised Obuchi.
“1 le has been a good friend to me per
sonally, he’s been a good friend of the
United States,” Clinton told reporters.
Aoki is seen as well-connected in the
ailing Liberal Democratic Part). I lowev-
er, party leaders were expected to look at
other candidates for a nominee to replace
Obuchi. Whoever is selected would like
ly win the approval of parliament, which
is controlled by the LDP.
THE HAGUE,
Netherlands (AP) —
U.N. prosecutors re
joiced as the most se
nior war crimes sus
pect to date was
arrested Tuesday in
Bosnia and brought
for trial, galvanizing
their crusade to bring
the architects of the Balkan “ethnic cleans
ing” campaigns to justice.
Momcilo Krajisnik, a close ally of for-
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