But any replacement the leading candidates are Foreign Minister Kono Yohei, Mori faction leader KoizumiJunichiro and former foreign minister Komura Masahiko is likely to be a virtual Mori clone.
He places the long-serving post-war prime minister Yoshida Shigeru, who signed the U.S.-Japan peace treaty and the first post-occupation status of forces agreement, in the former camp, along with Nakasone Yasuhiro, KoizumiJunichiro, and Noda Yoshihiko.