TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's ruling party votes on Tuesday in a cliffhanger poll that could yield the country's sixth premier in three years and refocus fiscal policies as Tokyo battles a strong yen, a weak economy and bulging public debt.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan, 63, who took office three months ago, is more popular among ordinary voters but rival Ichiro Ozawa, 68, a veteran lawmaker with dual images as a reformer and a scandal-tainted dealmaker, heads the ruling party's biggest group. That makes the outcome hard to predict.