ID :
200472
Wed, 08/10/2011 - 17:37
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/200472
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Japan could pick Kan's successor in late Aug
TOKYO, Aug. 10 Kyodo - Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Wednesday he is ready to step down soon after two key bills are passed in parliament, which looks likely by late August.
''When they are enacted, we will quickly prepare for the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election,'' Kan told a parliamentary session, adding that he is ready to leave office after the party's new leader is picked.
The DPJ leadership is exploring the possibility of holding the party's presidential election on Aug. 28 to pick Kan's successor, who will be Japan's sixth leader in five years.
If the DPJ election were held Aug. 28, it would be possible to name Japan's new prime minister during the current Diet session which ends Aug. 31.
To save time and prevent a political vacuum, only parliamentarians will be allowed to vote in the presidential election, unlike last September's contest in which rank-and-file party members and supporters participated.
Shortly after a new government is formed, senior DPJ lawmakers said they will seek cross-party cooperation to craft the third extra budget for fiscal 2011, whose main purpose is to provide money for the rebuilding of areas ravaged by the March earthquake and tsunami.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada discussed the upcoming political schedule with Azuma Koshiishi, leader of the caucus of DPJ legislators in the House of Councillors, according to the lawmakers.
Kan's latest remarks on his fate were made after the ruling party agreed on Wednesday with the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party to aim for parliamentary passage by Aug. 26 of the two key bills vital to lay the groundwork for Kan's resignation.
In late June, Kan, struggling with low popularity ratings, said he would hand over his job to the DPJ's next generation if three conditions were fulfilled.
They were parliamentary passage of three bills: the second extra budget for fiscal 2011, a bill to allow the government to issue deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 2011 to secure about 40 percent of the revenue needed to fund the annual budget, and a bill to promote the use of renewable energy.
The supplementary budget was enacted in late July, so the timing of Kan's resignation now hinges on when the other two bills will be passed by the Diet.
The bond-issuance bill was approved Wednesday by the House of Representatives panel on financial affairs and it is expected to be passed by the full chamber, dominated by DPJ lawmakers, on Thursday. Lawmakers said the bill will be enacted by around Aug. 24 after winning approval from the opposition-controlled House of Councillors.
The DPJ, the LDP and New Komeito, the second-largest opposition party, agreed that they will try to pass the energy bill through the lower house on Friday after making some revisions, the lawmakers said.
By securing enough support in the upper house, the parties are attempting to enact the bill by Aug. 26.
On Wednesday, Kan, who has been in office since June last year, also said, ''My Cabinet has done what it had to do and I have no regrets.''
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda is seen as one of the front-runners in the DPJ's presidential election.
While industry minister Banri Kaieda and former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara have also been floated as a possible successor to Kan, former Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa and former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi have already shown eagerness to run in the election.
''When they are enacted, we will quickly prepare for the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election,'' Kan told a parliamentary session, adding that he is ready to leave office after the party's new leader is picked.
The DPJ leadership is exploring the possibility of holding the party's presidential election on Aug. 28 to pick Kan's successor, who will be Japan's sixth leader in five years.
If the DPJ election were held Aug. 28, it would be possible to name Japan's new prime minister during the current Diet session which ends Aug. 31.
To save time and prevent a political vacuum, only parliamentarians will be allowed to vote in the presidential election, unlike last September's contest in which rank-and-file party members and supporters participated.
Shortly after a new government is formed, senior DPJ lawmakers said they will seek cross-party cooperation to craft the third extra budget for fiscal 2011, whose main purpose is to provide money for the rebuilding of areas ravaged by the March earthquake and tsunami.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada discussed the upcoming political schedule with Azuma Koshiishi, leader of the caucus of DPJ legislators in the House of Councillors, according to the lawmakers.
Kan's latest remarks on his fate were made after the ruling party agreed on Wednesday with the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party to aim for parliamentary passage by Aug. 26 of the two key bills vital to lay the groundwork for Kan's resignation.
In late June, Kan, struggling with low popularity ratings, said he would hand over his job to the DPJ's next generation if three conditions were fulfilled.
They were parliamentary passage of three bills: the second extra budget for fiscal 2011, a bill to allow the government to issue deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 2011 to secure about 40 percent of the revenue needed to fund the annual budget, and a bill to promote the use of renewable energy.
The supplementary budget was enacted in late July, so the timing of Kan's resignation now hinges on when the other two bills will be passed by the Diet.
The bond-issuance bill was approved Wednesday by the House of Representatives panel on financial affairs and it is expected to be passed by the full chamber, dominated by DPJ lawmakers, on Thursday. Lawmakers said the bill will be enacted by around Aug. 24 after winning approval from the opposition-controlled House of Councillors.
The DPJ, the LDP and New Komeito, the second-largest opposition party, agreed that they will try to pass the energy bill through the lower house on Friday after making some revisions, the lawmakers said.
By securing enough support in the upper house, the parties are attempting to enact the bill by Aug. 26.
On Wednesday, Kan, who has been in office since June last year, also said, ''My Cabinet has done what it had to do and I have no regrets.''
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda is seen as one of the front-runners in the DPJ's presidential election.
While industry minister Banri Kaieda and former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara have also been floated as a possible successor to Kan, former Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa and former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi have already shown eagerness to run in the election.
