Kan apologizes for lack of foresight in 2009 election pledges

TOKYO, July 22 Kyodo - Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized Friday to the public for his party's lack of foresight over its major policy pledges for the 2009 general election, in a move aimed at winning the opposition camp's cooperation to secure parliamentary passage of vital legislation.
''We had a rather optimistic view of funds (for carrying out measures contained in the pledges),'' Kan told the House of Councillors' Budget Committee, admitting shortcomings on the part of the Democratic Party of Japan.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada, meanwhile, indicated a possible review of the pledges during a meeting with his counterparts in the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party. He also urged their cooperation in passing a bill to allow the government to issue deficit-covering bonds for fiscal 2011.
During the talks, the three parties' secretaries general agreed to speed up discussions to review child allowances, a key policy under the DPJ's 2009 election manifesto.
Okada's counterparts Nobuteru Ishihara of the LDP and Yoshihisa Inoue of New Komeito told reporters that they welcomed the DPJ's admission that the manifesto was flawed and see it as a step forward, but stopped short of changing their stance and agreeing to help enact the bonds issuance bill.
Enactment of the bill is one of the three conditions that Kan has set for stepping down. The two others are the passage of the second extra budget for fiscal 2011 to additionally finance reconstruction from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and a bill to promote the use of renewable energy sources.
The second supplementary budget worth 2 trillion yen was originally expected to clear parliament Friday but was delayed to Monday afternoon.