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MV Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki descends from aircraft, is welcomed by LDP party members at Osaka airport and walks to car
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CU Party symbol PULL BACK TO Miki speaking at rally
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MV Audience listening (2 shots)
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CU Audience
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CU Miki speaking
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SV Audience applauds PAN TO Miki at end of speech, walks from rostrum and bows to audience
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The LDP has fielded 319 candidates, 20 less than in elections four years ago. Mr. Miki has ruled out a Socialist party (JSP) proposal of an LDP -- Socialist coalition government as unrealistic. When Mr. Miki opened his offensive at a rally near Tokyo's Ginza area on Monday (15 November), he warned that the country would be plunged into chaos and instability if the ruling party was not returned with a working majority.




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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Continuing his general election campaign leading up to the poll on the 5th of December, Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki went vote hunting in Osaka, Japan's second largest city on Wednesday (17 November).

SYNOPSIS: The Prime Minister arrived in Osaka two days after his rival inside the LDP, former Deputy Premier Takeo Fukuda, began his own campaign there. Mr. Miki has been under heavy attack from inside his party over the past six months, with calls for his resignation over charges of weak leadership. But evidence of his popularity outside the party was shown by the big audience he attracted when he attended an LDP rally at the Osaka city central auditorium.

An estimated 3,000 people packed the seats to hear the premier deliver an hour-long speech. Earlier, he told newsmen at an Osaka hotel that the forthcoming campaign would be a tough one for his party, whose image has been tarnished by the Lockheed bribes scandal. Fourteen people, including the former premier Mr. Kakuei Tanaka, have been indicted in connection with the affair, in which the giant U.S. aircraft firm paid out a million dollars to promote sales in Japan. Mr. Tanaka and two other LDP members who also face charges are standing in the election.