ID :
187331
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 18:57
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/187331
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Kan under unrelenting pressure to quit after 1 year in office
TOKYO, June 8 Kyodo - Prime Minister Naoto Kan came under unrelenting pressure to quit in the near future from both ruling and opposition lawmakers on Wednesday, the first anniversary of his taking office.
''It was quick,'' Kan told reporters with a smile, when asked how he feels about being Japan's leader for one year, at a time when lawmakers from his Democratic Party of Japan and opposition parties continued to dicker over when he should resign.
An increasing number of DPJ lawmakers say Kan should resign in exchange for securing cooperation from the Liberal Democratic Party and smaller opposition parties on the parliamentary passage of a bill needed for the government to issue deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 2011.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, however, warned against using passage of the bill as a bargaining chip with opposition parties, which control the upper house of parliament.
Edano said Japan's ongoing efforts to reconstruct areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will be seriously affected without the passage of the bill during the current Diet session.
''There is nothing more politically important than this enactment,'' Edano said at a news conference. ''I believe the Japanese people do not want politics that use the post of premier as a bargaining tool.''
The LDP and the New Komeito party, the second-largest opposition party, have said they have no plans to cooperate with the DPJ-led government in passing the bill as long as Kan, the country's fifth prime minister in five years, remains in power.
On top of Kan's resignation, LDP chief policymaker Shigeru Ishiba said at a news conference that the main opposition party will not allow the bill to be passed in the Diet if the DPJ does not scrap its major policy pledges of the 2009 general election, such as monthly allowances for families with children.
The ordinary 150-day Diet session will end June 22, if not extended. Jun Azumi, DPJ Diet affairs chief, told reporters, ''As long as the bill does not pass, I can't think of what's coming next.''
Azumi also said that whether to prolong the Diet session depends on how to deal with the bill.
But there are objections for Kan's government to stay beyond June 22. A New Komeito heavyweight, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, ''If the Diet session is to be extended, it must be done by the next prime minister.''
Without the bill's passage, 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 in April.
Last week, Kan expressed his intention to resign after his government achieves certain progress in reconstructing the disaster-stricken northeastern region and containing the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
But Kan has left the timing of his resignation vague.
LDP Vice President Tadamori Oshima said Wednesday at a gathering attended by DPJ and New Komeito lawmakers that the main opposition party is willing to work closely with the government after Kan resigns and the ruling party renews its leadership lineup, according to lawmakers.
If Kan does not step down this month, there are two other scenarios, according to DPJ lawmakers. One is that he will leave office around late July after completing the formulation of the second extra budget for fiscal 2011 to secure more funds for the rebuilding of the northeastern region.
In this case, the DPJ would hold its presidential election in early August to pick Kan's successor.
The other scenario, which Kan appears to have hoped for but is least likely, is that he will extend the Diet session until late August and stay on with the aim of passing the supplementary budget, the lawmakers said.
''It was quick,'' Kan told reporters with a smile, when asked how he feels about being Japan's leader for one year, at a time when lawmakers from his Democratic Party of Japan and opposition parties continued to dicker over when he should resign.
An increasing number of DPJ lawmakers say Kan should resign in exchange for securing cooperation from the Liberal Democratic Party and smaller opposition parties on the parliamentary passage of a bill needed for the government to issue deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 2011.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, however, warned against using passage of the bill as a bargaining chip with opposition parties, which control the upper house of parliament.
Edano said Japan's ongoing efforts to reconstruct areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will be seriously affected without the passage of the bill during the current Diet session.
''There is nothing more politically important than this enactment,'' Edano said at a news conference. ''I believe the Japanese people do not want politics that use the post of premier as a bargaining tool.''
The LDP and the New Komeito party, the second-largest opposition party, have said they have no plans to cooperate with the DPJ-led government in passing the bill as long as Kan, the country's fifth prime minister in five years, remains in power.
On top of Kan's resignation, LDP chief policymaker Shigeru Ishiba said at a news conference that the main opposition party will not allow the bill to be passed in the Diet if the DPJ does not scrap its major policy pledges of the 2009 general election, such as monthly allowances for families with children.
The ordinary 150-day Diet session will end June 22, if not extended. Jun Azumi, DPJ Diet affairs chief, told reporters, ''As long as the bill does not pass, I can't think of what's coming next.''
Azumi also said that whether to prolong the Diet session depends on how to deal with the bill.
But there are objections for Kan's government to stay beyond June 22. A New Komeito heavyweight, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, ''If the Diet session is to be extended, it must be done by the next prime minister.''
Without the bill's passage, 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 in April.
Last week, Kan expressed his intention to resign after his government achieves certain progress in reconstructing the disaster-stricken northeastern region and containing the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
But Kan has left the timing of his resignation vague.
LDP Vice President Tadamori Oshima said Wednesday at a gathering attended by DPJ and New Komeito lawmakers that the main opposition party is willing to work closely with the government after Kan resigns and the ruling party renews its leadership lineup, according to lawmakers.
If Kan does not step down this month, there are two other scenarios, according to DPJ lawmakers. One is that he will leave office around late July after completing the formulation of the second extra budget for fiscal 2011 to secure more funds for the rebuilding of the northeastern region.
In this case, the DPJ would hold its presidential election in early August to pick Kan's successor.
The other scenario, which Kan appears to have hoped for but is least likely, is that he will extend the Diet session until late August and stay on with the aim of passing the supplementary budget, the lawmakers said.
