Aso could delay general election amid global financial turmoil+

TOKYO, Sept. 30 Kyodo - Prime Minister Taro Aso may decide to delay the date of a general election from Nov. 2 as previously expected as he is likely to carefully assess the economic situation amid the global financial turmoil, political sources said Tuesday.

Aso, who is seeking the passage of the fiscal 2008 supplementary budget next
week to implement comprehensive economic measures, told reporters Tuesday that
he would also like to deal with a number of bills, including on the extension
of Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, before dissolving the House
of Representatives for a general election.
''It is a matter of course to work out the issues we face'' such as setting up
a consumer affairs agency and extension of the refueling mission, Aso said,
responding to a question on the schedule for a possible dissolution of the
lower house.
Aso's remark suggests that the election could be delayed, although some
lawmakers in the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New
Komeito party have been calling for the lower house to be dissolved immediately
after the supplementary budget is enacted.
Lawmakers from the ruling parties were widely believed to be making
arrangements for a general election on Nov. 2.
Earlier in the day, Aso met Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business
Federation, at the prime minister's office and told him that he would consider
implementing additional economic measures after the supplementary budget is
enacted.
When asked by reporters at a news conference if the conditions for a
dissolution of the Diet would be met once the budget is enacted, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the prime minister will make a final decision
after carefully taking into account various opinions.
Hiroyuki Hosoda, the LDP's secretary general, suggested the possibility that
the general election could take place later than Nov. 2, telling a press
conference, ''The prime minister will not accept a situation in which there are
no lawmakers in the Diet following dissolution (of the lower house) and they
are engaged in election campaigning.''
''We need to do the utmost to resolve the (financial) turmoil immediately,'' he
added.
The schedule for parliamentary deliberations on the supplementary budget will
be discussed by the board of the lower house's budget committee on Wednesday.
The ruling parties plan to seek cooperation from the opposition camp so that a
vote on the supplementary budget can take place after two days of deliberations
at the most.
But the opposition camp, which has proposed to the ruling parties that two days
of deliberations be held in both the lower and upper houses, is set to seek a
thorough debate, saying that the proposal was made on the premise that the
lower house would be dissolved immediately after a vote.
''If (the dissolution) is to be postponed for a considerable period, we cannot
accept it,'' a member engaged in Diet affairs from the opposition Democratic
Party of Japan said.
On Monday, the government submitted the bills for the extension of the
refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations and for
setting up a consumer affairs agency.
Global financial turmoil has worsened since the U.S. Congress on Monday
unexpectedly rejected the U.S. administration's financial bailout package aimed
at stabilizing the financial sector.
The ongoing extraordinary Diet session convened last Wednesday and will run
until Nov. 30.