DPJ eyes 3rd quake-relief budget, pressing Kan to quit+

TOKYO, June 18 Kyodo -
Japan's ruling party presumes that yet another auxiliary budget for fiscal 2011 will be submitted to parliament possibly in mid-August, while the party brass confirmed a plan to press Prime Minister Naoto Kan to quit soon, party lawmakers said Saturday.
Katsuya Okada, secretary general of Kan's Democratic Party of Japan, said in a lecture in Mie Prefecture that a third extra budget aimed at getting postdisaster reconstruction work in full swing is likely to be worth more than 10 trillion yen and its submission to the Diet will take place between mid-August and early September.
Okada, the DPJ's No. 2 man, also indicated that Kan, who has promised to step down once certain progress is made in rebuilding the northeastern region devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, will not necessarily submit the planned budget.
Meanwhile, members of the party leadership were set the same day to work together to talk the party president into resigning at an early date.
Okada and other top party members including Acting President Yoshito Sengoku and chief policymaker Koichiro Gemba plan to discuss Kan's resignation during their meeting Sunday, party lawmakers said.
While the DPJ, headed by Kan, is considering extending the current Diet session due to end Wednesday by three months, Okada said the extension would not warrant Kan's continuing his grip on power.
Okada said Saturday a second extra budget now in the pipeline for reconstruction work will likely total around 2 trillion yen. The first extra budget worth 4.02 trillion yen was enacted in May.