Koizumi to stay away from revote on bill to implement cash handouts

MOSCOW, Feb. 18 Kyodo -
In a show of intraparty dissent against Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's
government, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday he intends
to sit out a lower house plenary session if the ruling coalition forces passage
of a bill needed to implement a controversial cash handout plan through a
revote.
''I have a slight objection to having it passed by using a two-thirds majority
when the opinion of the upper house differs'' with that of the House of
Representatives, said Koizumi. ''I will not attend the plenary session for a
revote if it is held.''
The latest remarks by Koizumi, who still has clout in the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party, could further undermine Aso's leadership within the party and
the government.
Some LDP lawmakers may follow Koizumi's lead and decide not to participate in
the voting. But it is not expected to affect the voting itself as the number of
lawmakers who may stay away from the revote is unlikely to be large enough to
block the passage of the bill.
The bill is expected to be voted down in the House of Councillors, controlled
by the opposition bloc led by the Democratic Party of Japan, meaning it would
require an endorsement by a two-thirds majority in a revote in the more
powerful lower house.
The cash handout plan, which is at the center of economic measures spearheaded
by the embattled Aso, is included in an extra budget for fiscal 2008 and the
bill to finance the program is currently under deliberation in the upper house
after clearing the lower house on Jan. 13.
On the cash handout plan, Koizumi said there may be some other ways to use 2
trillion yen in taxpayers' money.
LDP Diet affairs chief Tadamori Oshima ruled out any direct impact of Koizumi's
move on a revote, saying, ''We can have it passed by a two-thirds majority
without making a fuss'' in the absence of Koizumi and some followers who may
absent themselves.
LDP Party Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda stressed there is no change in the
plan to hold a revote.
In a press conference in Moscow where he is attending a think-tank forum,
Koizumi reiterated his criticism of Aso over his recent remarks on postal
privatization which was initiated by Koizumi.
''I am concerned that the prime minister does not understand how the current
LDP's seats were obtained,'' referring to the party's landslide victory in the
last lower house election in 2005 when Koizumi, then prime minister, made
postal privatization the main issue of the campaign.
Koizumi launched a tirade earlier this month after Aso said he would review the
postal privatization process initiated by the former prime minister.
Koizumi's latest remarks come at a time when Aso is struggling with dismal
public support ratings. A Kyodo News poll showed Wednesday that the support
rate for his Cabinet has plunged to 13.4 percent, the lowest since he took
office last September.
Under the 2 trillion yen cash handout plan to simulate the economy, each
individual will receive 12,000 yen and an extra 8,000 yen will be given to
children aged 18 or younger and seniors aged 65 or older.
As for his political activities in the future, Koizumi said, ''Though there are
people who say I will return to politics or I am willing to become prime
minister again, I am not thinking such things at all. I will not run in the
next general election.''
Koizumi, who maintained high popularity throughout his terms from 2001 to 2006,
has formally expressed his intention to retire from politics when his current
term as a lower house member ends.
==Kyodo