ID :
202172
Thu, 08/18/2011 - 15:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202172
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Industry minister Kaieda to run in DPJ leadership race
TOKYO, Aug. 18 Kyodo - Industry minister Banri Kaieda plans to run in the coming leadership race of the Democratic Party of Japan to choose a successor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, sources close to Kaieda said Thursday.
Kaieda is considering announcing his decision later this month around the time when a bill to promote the use of renewable energy passes the House of Representatives, the sources said.
The ruling party, headed by Kan, and two major opposition parties agreed Thursday to pass the bill in the lower house next Tuesday.
The DPJ leadership is exploring the possibility of holding the election on Aug. 28 or Aug. 29. But some DPJ lawmakers have said the schedule is too early and called for it to be held in early September instead.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said at a news conference that the election and the naming of a new prime minister must be done by Aug. 31, when the current Diet session ends.
Okada said he will determine the exact date of the election next Monday.
The 62-year-old Kaieda became the economy, trade and industry minister in a Cabinet reshuffle in January. But tension recently surfaced between Kaieda and Kan over Japan's nuclear policy in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
Kaieda, a native of Tokyo who is serving his fifth term as a lower house member, said in July he would step down from his ministerial post to take responsibility for confusion over when to restart nuclear reactors idled for regular checks. But he has not specified when he will do so.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 54, and former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi, 50, have already voiced their intention to run in the election.
Former Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa, 57, and Shinji Tarutoko, 52, former chairman of the DPJ's Diet Affairs Committee, have also shown eagerness to enter the leadership race, while some DPJ lawmakers are considering requesting farm minister Michihiko Kano, 69, and former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, 49, to aim for the top post.
''I'm stumped over what kind of role I should play,'' a DPJ lawmaker who has close ties with Maehara quoted him as saying Thursday during a meeting with his ruling party allies.
Maehara, who has received relatively high support compared to other candidates in public opinion polls about Japan's next leader, exchanged views over his stance on the election with DPJ lawmakers who belong to his faction.
The lawmakers said Maehara will decide whether to run in the election in the not-too-distant future.
Noda held talks Wednesday night with Maehara and asked for his intraparty group's support in the election, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Noda is known as a proponent of raising taxes to help the country's tattered public finances and generate funds for the rebuilding of areas ravaged by the March earthquake and tsunami.
But Maehara is not in favor of immediate tax increases.
On Thursday, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who still leads a major intraparty group, said he has no plans to back a candidate in the election who is willing to raise taxes and form a grand coalition government with major opposition parties.
Kaieda is considering announcing his decision later this month around the time when a bill to promote the use of renewable energy passes the House of Representatives, the sources said.
The ruling party, headed by Kan, and two major opposition parties agreed Thursday to pass the bill in the lower house next Tuesday.
The DPJ leadership is exploring the possibility of holding the election on Aug. 28 or Aug. 29. But some DPJ lawmakers have said the schedule is too early and called for it to be held in early September instead.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said at a news conference that the election and the naming of a new prime minister must be done by Aug. 31, when the current Diet session ends.
Okada said he will determine the exact date of the election next Monday.
The 62-year-old Kaieda became the economy, trade and industry minister in a Cabinet reshuffle in January. But tension recently surfaced between Kaieda and Kan over Japan's nuclear policy in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
Kaieda, a native of Tokyo who is serving his fifth term as a lower house member, said in July he would step down from his ministerial post to take responsibility for confusion over when to restart nuclear reactors idled for regular checks. But he has not specified when he will do so.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 54, and former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi, 50, have already voiced their intention to run in the election.
Former Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa, 57, and Shinji Tarutoko, 52, former chairman of the DPJ's Diet Affairs Committee, have also shown eagerness to enter the leadership race, while some DPJ lawmakers are considering requesting farm minister Michihiko Kano, 69, and former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, 49, to aim for the top post.
''I'm stumped over what kind of role I should play,'' a DPJ lawmaker who has close ties with Maehara quoted him as saying Thursday during a meeting with his ruling party allies.
Maehara, who has received relatively high support compared to other candidates in public opinion polls about Japan's next leader, exchanged views over his stance on the election with DPJ lawmakers who belong to his faction.
The lawmakers said Maehara will decide whether to run in the election in the not-too-distant future.
Noda held talks Wednesday night with Maehara and asked for his intraparty group's support in the election, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Noda is known as a proponent of raising taxes to help the country's tattered public finances and generate funds for the rebuilding of areas ravaged by the March earthquake and tsunami.
But Maehara is not in favor of immediate tax increases.
On Thursday, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who still leads a major intraparty group, said he has no plans to back a candidate in the election who is willing to raise taxes and form a grand coalition government with major opposition parties.
