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186780
Mon, 06/06/2011 - 20:26
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https://oananews.org//node/186780
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DPJ discusses new gov't framework after Kan's departure
TOKYO, June 6 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's ruling party on Monday started exploring the possibility of forming a coalition government with Japan's biggest opposition party after his expected resignation as early as this month.
In addition to some executives of the Democratic Party of Japan who voiced their support this weekend for the idea of forming a grand coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano acknowledged its necessity.
''It is desirable to have a structure where a wide range of cooperation can be assured in the Diet,'' Edano, the top government spokesman, said at a news conference. ''The DPJ is working on the matter more specifically.''
Some executives of the LDP are also hoping to form a grand coalition with the DPJ. But they have said Kan's resignation in June is an indispensable condition for joining hands with the DPJ.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada and other executives of the ruling party on Monday discussed the feasibility of a temporary alliance with the main opposition party until Japan makes tangible progress in rebuilding areas hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Okada told a news conference that he also wants to ask the New Komeito, the second-largest opposition party, and some other parties to be part of the envisioned coalition government.
In a related development, DPJ Acting President Yoshito Sengoku held a series of meetings with party heavyweights to narrow down candidates to succeed Kan as party leader.
Sengoku and DPJ Vice President Hajime Ishii agreed during their meeting that the ruling party must first pick Kan's successor to move forward the idea of creating a grand coalition with the LDP, according to a party lawmaker.
The appropriate time for Kan to step down would be when he secures cooperation from the LDP on passing a bill required for the government to issue deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 2011, as well as a deal on how to create the next supplementary budget for reconstruction of the affected areas, Sengoku said during the recording of a TV program.
LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki told a news conference in the city of Kumamoto that his opposition party will not help the government pass the key budget bill as long as Kan stays in office.
Without the bill's passage in a divided parliament, where the LDP and other opposition parties control the upper house, the government would be unable to secure about 40 percent of the revenue planned in the 92.41 trillion yen budget for the year started April.
Attention is also focused on the format of the forthcoming DPJ presidential election to choose Kan's successor.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa has said rank-and-file supporters of the DPJ should be allowed to participate in the election, in addition to parliamentarians.
But Okada signaled that the chance of the DPJ organizing such a full-scale election is slim.
Okada said preparing for an election that includes rank-and-file supporters would ''require several months and that means we cannot avoid having it this fall.''
Calls are growing for voting in the leadership election to be restricted to the DPJ's 407 lawmakers, unlike last September's contest when Kan was reelected after securing a solid victory over Ichiro Ozawa, a power broker who has played a pivotal role in pushing the current party chief into a corner.
Kan received strong support from rank-and-file party members, but he and Ozawa ran neck and neck among DPJ lawmakers, with Kan securing 206 votes to Ozawa's 200.
Ozawa's clout within the DPJ persists and the possible format of the election is likely to affect the selection of candidates, DPJ lawmakers said.
To realize the grand coalition, a senior DPJ lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would be difficult for Kan to remain in power until August as he had hoped.
Nevertheless, there remain strong objections to the idea among both DPJ and LDP lawmakers, partly because of policy differences.
The LDP has urged the DPJ to scrap some of its major policy pledges for the 2009 general election, which the opposition party criticizes as wasteful, such as monthly allowances for families with children.
Edano, who has been floated as a possible successor since Kan announced last week his intention to resign in the near future, pointed out the election pledges were made before the 9.0-magnitude quake devastated the country's northeast.
Edano suggested the need to review the pledges, saying, ''It is possible to win understanding from the public for an action that is intended to protect the national interest.''
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's ruling party on Monday started exploring the possibility of forming a coalition government with Japan's biggest opposition party after his expected resignation as early as this month.
In addition to some executives of the Democratic Party of Japan who voiced their support this weekend for the idea of forming a grand coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano acknowledged its necessity.
''It is desirable to have a structure where a wide range of cooperation can be assured in the Diet,'' Edano, the top government spokesman, said at a news conference. ''The DPJ is working on the matter more specifically.''
Some executives of the LDP are also hoping to form a grand coalition with the DPJ. But they have said Kan's resignation in June is an indispensable condition for joining hands with the DPJ.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada and other executives of the ruling party on Monday discussed the feasibility of a temporary alliance with the main opposition party until Japan makes tangible progress in rebuilding areas hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Okada told a news conference that he also wants to ask the New Komeito, the second-largest opposition party, and some other parties to be part of the envisioned coalition government.
In a related development, DPJ Acting President Yoshito Sengoku held a series of meetings with party heavyweights to narrow down candidates to succeed Kan as party leader.
Sengoku and DPJ Vice President Hajime Ishii agreed during their meeting that the ruling party must first pick Kan's successor to move forward the idea of creating a grand coalition with the LDP, according to a party lawmaker.
The appropriate time for Kan to step down would be when he secures cooperation from the LDP on passing a bill required for the government to issue deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 2011, as well as a deal on how to create the next supplementary budget for reconstruction of the affected areas, Sengoku said during the recording of a TV program.
LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki told a news conference in the city of Kumamoto that his opposition party will not help the government pass the key budget bill as long as Kan stays in office.
Without the bill's passage in a divided parliament, where the LDP and other opposition parties control the upper house, the government would be unable to secure about 40 percent of the revenue planned in the 92.41 trillion yen budget for the year started April.
Attention is also focused on the format of the forthcoming DPJ presidential election to choose Kan's successor.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa has said rank-and-file supporters of the DPJ should be allowed to participate in the election, in addition to parliamentarians.
But Okada signaled that the chance of the DPJ organizing such a full-scale election is slim.
Okada said preparing for an election that includes rank-and-file supporters would ''require several months and that means we cannot avoid having it this fall.''
Calls are growing for voting in the leadership election to be restricted to the DPJ's 407 lawmakers, unlike last September's contest when Kan was reelected after securing a solid victory over Ichiro Ozawa, a power broker who has played a pivotal role in pushing the current party chief into a corner.
Kan received strong support from rank-and-file party members, but he and Ozawa ran neck and neck among DPJ lawmakers, with Kan securing 206 votes to Ozawa's 200.
Ozawa's clout within the DPJ persists and the possible format of the election is likely to affect the selection of candidates, DPJ lawmakers said.
To realize the grand coalition, a senior DPJ lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would be difficult for Kan to remain in power until August as he had hoped.
Nevertheless, there remain strong objections to the idea among both DPJ and LDP lawmakers, partly because of policy differences.
The LDP has urged the DPJ to scrap some of its major policy pledges for the 2009 general election, which the opposition party criticizes as wasteful, such as monthly allowances for families with children.
Edano, who has been floated as a possible successor since Kan announced last week his intention to resign in the near future, pointed out the election pledges were made before the 9.0-magnitude quake devastated the country's northeast.
Edano suggested the need to review the pledges, saying, ''It is possible to win understanding from the public for an action that is intended to protect the national interest.''
