ID :
200207
Tue, 08/09/2011 - 18:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/200207
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Kan's resignation looming after accord on bond-issuance bill
TOKYO, Aug. 9 Kyodo - A bill to enable the Japanese government to issue debt-covering bonds in fiscal 2011 will be enacted by the end of August, increasing the likelihood that Prime Minister Naoto Kan will step down in the foreseeable future, lawmakers said Tuesday.
After months of deadlock, the government will finally be able to secure parliamentary passage of the bill after the Democratic Party of Japan, headed by Kan, agreed to review its key policies with the two largest opposition parties.
Passage of the bill is one of the three conditions set by Kan for his resignation.
The bill is required to fund around 40 percent of the spending planned in the budget for the year started April.
''I'm glad. I think it's great,'' Kan told reporters about the prospect that the bill will be passed, after returning to his office from a one-day trip to Nagasaki to attend a ceremony to mark the 66th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city.
The 64-year-old premier later told reporters, ''I am aware of my responsibility regarding what I have said until now.''
The two other conditions Kan spelled out in late June were parliamentary passage of the second extra budget for fiscal 2011 and a bill to promote the use of renewable energy. The supplementary budget was already enacted on July 25.
Kan is under pressure to quit from both ruling and opposition party lawmakers by the end of August, when the current Diet session ends.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Nobuteru Ishihara, in a meeting with his DPJ counterpart Katsuya Okada, demanded that the ruling party pick Kan's successor by the end of this month, the lawmakers said.
Okada told reporters that Kan will ''quit'' after all of the three conditions are fulfilled, adding that he hopes the agreement to review the DPJ's major campaign pledges for the general election in August 2009, through which it came to power, will serve as ''a foundation to deepen cooperation in various ways with the LDP and the New Komeito party.''
The bond-issuance bill is expected to be passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday before its enactment in late August, the lawmakers said.
The DPJ leadership is also attempting to secure passage of the energy bill in the lower house this week, so it can hold the party's presidential election as early as Aug. 28 to pick Kan's successor, some of the lawmakers said.
On Tuesday, the LDP finished drawing up a set of ideas to revise the bill, which is aimed at introducing a feed-in-tariff system to oblige utilities to buy electricity generated by renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, at fixed prices.
If the DPJ reaches agreement with the LDP, as well as the New Komeito party, on revisions to the energy bill, it is almost certain that Kan's third condition will also be fulfilled by the end of August.
For Diet passage of the bond-issuance bill, the LDP and New Komeito have argued that the DPJ must first review the campaign pledges for the general election.
Earlier this month, the DPJ agreed with the two opposition parties to scrap its signature policy of providing benefits to each child of junior high school age or younger regardless of family income.
The latest agreement will require further compromise by the DPJ, which, for instance, has decided not to seek budgetary allocations in fiscal 2012 for another important pledge to introduce toll-free expressways in many parts of Japan.
Regarding other major policies, such as high school tuition waivers, the accord said the DPJ will ''consider necessary reviews'' in light of their effectiveness.
LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki said he is happy with the accord as it largely reflects the main opposition party's position.
Tanigaki said the time has come for Kan to make clearer when he will resign.
On how to repay special bonds likely to be issued to generate funds for the rebuilding of areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the three parties agreed to come up with plans on their own before formulating the third extra budget for fiscal 2011.
After months of deadlock, the government will finally be able to secure parliamentary passage of the bill after the Democratic Party of Japan, headed by Kan, agreed to review its key policies with the two largest opposition parties.
Passage of the bill is one of the three conditions set by Kan for his resignation.
The bill is required to fund around 40 percent of the spending planned in the budget for the year started April.
''I'm glad. I think it's great,'' Kan told reporters about the prospect that the bill will be passed, after returning to his office from a one-day trip to Nagasaki to attend a ceremony to mark the 66th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city.
The 64-year-old premier later told reporters, ''I am aware of my responsibility regarding what I have said until now.''
The two other conditions Kan spelled out in late June were parliamentary passage of the second extra budget for fiscal 2011 and a bill to promote the use of renewable energy. The supplementary budget was already enacted on July 25.
Kan is under pressure to quit from both ruling and opposition party lawmakers by the end of August, when the current Diet session ends.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Nobuteru Ishihara, in a meeting with his DPJ counterpart Katsuya Okada, demanded that the ruling party pick Kan's successor by the end of this month, the lawmakers said.
Okada told reporters that Kan will ''quit'' after all of the three conditions are fulfilled, adding that he hopes the agreement to review the DPJ's major campaign pledges for the general election in August 2009, through which it came to power, will serve as ''a foundation to deepen cooperation in various ways with the LDP and the New Komeito party.''
The bond-issuance bill is expected to be passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday before its enactment in late August, the lawmakers said.
The DPJ leadership is also attempting to secure passage of the energy bill in the lower house this week, so it can hold the party's presidential election as early as Aug. 28 to pick Kan's successor, some of the lawmakers said.
On Tuesday, the LDP finished drawing up a set of ideas to revise the bill, which is aimed at introducing a feed-in-tariff system to oblige utilities to buy electricity generated by renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, at fixed prices.
If the DPJ reaches agreement with the LDP, as well as the New Komeito party, on revisions to the energy bill, it is almost certain that Kan's third condition will also be fulfilled by the end of August.
For Diet passage of the bond-issuance bill, the LDP and New Komeito have argued that the DPJ must first review the campaign pledges for the general election.
Earlier this month, the DPJ agreed with the two opposition parties to scrap its signature policy of providing benefits to each child of junior high school age or younger regardless of family income.
The latest agreement will require further compromise by the DPJ, which, for instance, has decided not to seek budgetary allocations in fiscal 2012 for another important pledge to introduce toll-free expressways in many parts of Japan.
Regarding other major policies, such as high school tuition waivers, the accord said the DPJ will ''consider necessary reviews'' in light of their effectiveness.
LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki said he is happy with the accord as it largely reflects the main opposition party's position.
Tanigaki said the time has come for Kan to make clearer when he will resign.
On how to repay special bonds likely to be issued to generate funds for the rebuilding of areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the three parties agreed to come up with plans on their own before formulating the third extra budget for fiscal 2011.
