Aso not to call general election until passage of FY 2009 budget

TOKYO, Jan. 4 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Taro Aso said Sunday he will not consider dissolving the House
of Representatives for a snap general election until the Diet passes the fiscal
2009 budget and related bills, emphasizing that the decision on when to
dissolve the lower house will be his.
''We first need to implement economic measures and it is important to enact the
budget and related bills quickly,'' Aso said in his first press conference of
the year. ''I will not be thinking about calling an election until then.''
''The prime minister will make a decision on when to hold a snap election. This
means I, Taro Aso, will decide,'' the 68-year-old Japanese leader said.
But his archrival Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party
of Japan, hinted at the possibility that Aso could be driven to dissolve the
lower house as early as in the spring, saying voices calling into question the
continuation of the current administration could become louder in the period up
to the end of the fiscal year in March.
The mission of politics is to ''protect people's lives and livelihoods,''
Ozawa, 66, told a separate news conference later Sunday.
He said the governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New
Komeito party is ''no longer necessary for the people'' as it failed to protect
people's livelihoods, exacerbated gaps between the rich and the poor, and could
not find ways to tackle the recession.
The government plans to submit to parliament a record-high 88,548.0 billion yen
budget proposal aimed at salvaging Japan's flagging economy and related bills
on Jan. 19 during the regular Diet session to be convened Monday.
The fiscal 2009 budget is expected to clear the Diet in mid-March even if the
DPJ-led opposition bloc votes it down in the opposition-controlled House of
Councillors, as the more powerful lower house's decision takes precedence on
budgets and treaties.
Parliament is likely to pass the budget-related bills around mid-April as the
ruling coalition can approve them with a second vote in the lower house by a
two-thirds majority even if they are rejected in the upper house.
Asked how he plans to deal with the anticipated defection of a number of ruling
coalition lawmakers who are expected to vote against the bills, Aso said
confidently, ''I do not anticipate such a situation.''
Aso, who took office in September last year, also said he will seek to raise
the consumption tax after economic recovery is seen in Japan, adding that the
government and his ruling LDP ''cannot do something irresponsible.''
Last month, the government endorsed a medium-term tax reform program specifying
fiscal 2011 as the year for raising the nation's 5 percent sales levy to cover
ballooning social security costs, provided that the economy improves by that
time.
Concerning the next general election, which must be held by September 2009, Aso
said, ''The focal point for the election will be on which party can craft
effective economic steps, and I believe that the LDP is the party that can.''
The government is also set to submit to parliament Monday a second extra budget
for fiscal 2008 that includes a controversial plan to provide cash
disbursements to households.
The ruling and opposition camps are expected to lock horns on the second extra
budget from the onset, as the DPJ has criticized the 2 trillion yen cash payout
plan as lavish spending and demanded that the plan be replaced with employment
and other economic stimulus measures.
Ozawa criticized the Aso Cabinet for creating a political vacuum by not having
submitted the second extra budget last year and expressed his intention to
oppose the disbursement plan at the Diet session, saying, ''We cannot allow
something that ridicules people just before an election and uses money
wastefully.''
The prime minister initially planned to present the second extra budget during
the extraordinary Diet session that ended Dec. 25, but held off on the
submission despite his earlier pledge to place priority on efforts to revive
the recession-hit economy.
The beleaguered Aso's inconsistent stance further eroded his already sluggish
public approval ratings that are currently hovering at around 20 percent.
On the diplomatic front, Aso expressed deep concern over Israel's launching of
a ground operation Saturday in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in addition to its
airstrikes on the area which began Dec. 27 last year.
''I heard that the ground troops have been deployed and am deeply concerned
that it could further worsen the situation,'' he said. ''I am afraid that the
two sides (Israel and the Palestinians) are unlikely to achieve a cease-fire
very soon.''
Aso also pointed to the need for continued deliberations in Japan over the
right to exercise collective defense at a time when the government is
considering dispatching Maritime Self-Defense Force ships off the coast of
Somalia to cope with pirates in the area.
Japan takes the position that the country has the right to defend an ally under
attack under international law, but cannot exercise the right under its
pacifist Constitution.
==Kyodo