Aso says to make decision over timing of Diet dissolution+

TOKYO, March 2 Kyodo - Prime Minister Taro Aso said Monday he will decide himself when to dissolve the House of Representatives, after his farm minister sought an immediate dissolution for a general election.

''We are now making a concerted effort to (implement) economic measures in the
near term. I will make the decision over the timing of an election,'' Aso told
reporters, responding to a question about the remark Saturday by Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Separately, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura criticized Ishiba, telling a
press conference, ''Ministers should have a sense that the right to dissolve
(the lower house) is the prime minister's prerogative.''
Ishiba said on a TV program, ''We should seek the judgment of the people soon.
It is not very good to idle away and wait for'' September, when the lower house
members' current term expires.
In a related development, senior Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Makoto Koga
said Sunday that a general election should be held after a fiscal 2009
supplementary budget for another economic stimulus package is formulated and
passed during the current session of the Diet.
==Kyodo
2009-03-02 22:34:15