ID :
22416
Fri, 10/03/2008 - 09:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/22416
The shortlink copeid
Election now later than Nov. 2 as extra budget passage likely delayed
TOKYO, Oct. 2 Kyodo - A general election is now expected to take place later than Nov. 2, as the parliamentary passage of an extra budget will be delayed due to Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa's trip abroad, lawmakers said Thursday.
Prime Minister Taro Aso is seeking to pass the fiscal 2008 supplementary budget
through the Diet before dissolving the House of Representatives for a general
election.
But Nakagawa is now likely to visit the United States from Oct. 9 to attend a
meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of Seven
industrialized nations.
His trip makes the passage of the extra budget unlikely before the week
beginning on Oct. 12, according to the lawmakers.
The ruling bloc has envisioned that official election campaigning will begin on
Oct. 21 for a Nov. 2 election, and many members of the ruling camp,
particularly from the New Komeito party, the junior coalition partner of Aso's
Liberal Democratic Party, are hoping an election will be held in November.
But some members of the ruling camp have begun advocating an election at a
later date, possibly next year, as the LDP is currently lagging behind the
opposition Democratic Party of Japan in opinion polls.
Aso is expected to decide on the timing of an election by keeping an eye on the
economic situation and public opinion, the lawmakers said.
The lower house Budget Committee decided Thursday to deliberate the
supplementary budget on Monday and Tuesday.
During Thursday's committee executive meeting, the ruling coalition proposed
that the panel vote for the budget on Wednesday, but opposition parties said
they will respond to the proposal on Friday.
An early passage of the budget is unlikely as the opposition is calling for
thorough discussions on the budget at the Budget Committee of the House of
Councillors, which is dominated by opposition lawmakers.
Aso said Thursday he wants to prioritize implementing economic measures over
dissolving the lower house.
''Besides budget-related bills, there are many issues such as bills to set up a
consumer affairs agency and a bill to support the refueling mission in the
Indian Ocean that are designed to protect people's lives and to fulfill our
responsibility in the international community,'' Aso said during an upper house
plenary session.
''I'd like to prioritize policies such as economic measures'' rather than
dissolving the lower house, he said.
On Monday, the government submitted the bills for the extension of the
refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around
Afghanistan and for setting up a consumer affairs agency.
On Japan's wartime history, meanwhile, Aso told the session he will adhere to
the government's view expressed in a 1995 statement, in which then Prime
Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized and expressed remorse for Japan's
colonial rule and atrocities before and during World War II.
In response to questions by Social Democratic Party Secretary General Yasumasa
Shigeno, Aso said he will also adhere to a statement issued by former Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2005 which apologized to victims of Japan's past
aggression.
Aso, who is known to have conservative and hawkish views, said during the lower
house plenary session that his Cabinet will stand by the two statements as
''they show the government's recognition regarding the last World War.''
==Kyodo
Prime Minister Taro Aso is seeking to pass the fiscal 2008 supplementary budget
through the Diet before dissolving the House of Representatives for a general
election.
But Nakagawa is now likely to visit the United States from Oct. 9 to attend a
meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of Seven
industrialized nations.
His trip makes the passage of the extra budget unlikely before the week
beginning on Oct. 12, according to the lawmakers.
The ruling bloc has envisioned that official election campaigning will begin on
Oct. 21 for a Nov. 2 election, and many members of the ruling camp,
particularly from the New Komeito party, the junior coalition partner of Aso's
Liberal Democratic Party, are hoping an election will be held in November.
But some members of the ruling camp have begun advocating an election at a
later date, possibly next year, as the LDP is currently lagging behind the
opposition Democratic Party of Japan in opinion polls.
Aso is expected to decide on the timing of an election by keeping an eye on the
economic situation and public opinion, the lawmakers said.
The lower house Budget Committee decided Thursday to deliberate the
supplementary budget on Monday and Tuesday.
During Thursday's committee executive meeting, the ruling coalition proposed
that the panel vote for the budget on Wednesday, but opposition parties said
they will respond to the proposal on Friday.
An early passage of the budget is unlikely as the opposition is calling for
thorough discussions on the budget at the Budget Committee of the House of
Councillors, which is dominated by opposition lawmakers.
Aso said Thursday he wants to prioritize implementing economic measures over
dissolving the lower house.
''Besides budget-related bills, there are many issues such as bills to set up a
consumer affairs agency and a bill to support the refueling mission in the
Indian Ocean that are designed to protect people's lives and to fulfill our
responsibility in the international community,'' Aso said during an upper house
plenary session.
''I'd like to prioritize policies such as economic measures'' rather than
dissolving the lower house, he said.
On Monday, the government submitted the bills for the extension of the
refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around
Afghanistan and for setting up a consumer affairs agency.
On Japan's wartime history, meanwhile, Aso told the session he will adhere to
the government's view expressed in a 1995 statement, in which then Prime
Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized and expressed remorse for Japan's
colonial rule and atrocities before and during World War II.
In response to questions by Social Democratic Party Secretary General Yasumasa
Shigeno, Aso said he will also adhere to a statement issued by former Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2005 which apologized to victims of Japan's past
aggression.
Aso, who is known to have conservative and hawkish views, said during the lower
house plenary session that his Cabinet will stand by the two statements as
''they show the government's recognition regarding the last World War.''
==Kyodo
