Japan opposition: No word from govt on BOJ leader

TOKYO Jan 22 (Reuters) - Japan's main opposition party leader said on Tuesday the government has not yet put forward its proposal on a candidate to succeed Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui, whose term expires in March.

Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, also said the party has not decided whether it would accept Toshiro Muto, one of the central bank's two deputy governors, if the government nominates him to the central bank's top job.

"We haven't heard anything from the government," Ozawa told a regular news conference. "We'll think about it when we hear from them. At the moment it's completely open."

Fukui's five-year term will expire on March 19. Top government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said this month that the government would need to propose a candidate by mid-February at the latest.

Although Muto is widely seen as the favourite to replace Fukui, the top job at Japan's central bank now requires the endorsement of the opposition Democrats, as the ruling coalition lost a majority in the upper house after elections last year.

Katsuya Okada, vice president of the Democratic Party, last week spoke out against suggestions that Muto should succeed Fukui.

"I bear in mind that there's such an opinion within the party when we make our decision," Ozawa said on Tuesday.

Ozawa denied media reports that his party is calling for the government to put forward more than one candidate and let the Democrats have a say in selecting the central bank chief.

In 2003, the Democrats opposed the government's appointment of Fukui, Muto and Deputy Governor Kazumasa Iwata, but they did not have the control of parliament's upper house at that time so lacked the ability to block the appointments. (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano)