Aso denies rumors of dissolving lower house only after budget passage

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TOKYO, April 20 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Taro Aso on Monday denied speculation that he intends to
dissolve the lower house for a general election only after a fiscal 2009
supplementary budget is enacted.
''The dissolution (of the lower house) and the enactment of the (supplementary)
budget are not directly related,'' Aso told reporters. ''It is important to
have the extra budget enacted at the earliest possible time as expectations for
the budget are high,'' he said.
Earlier in the day, Aso ordered his Liberal Democratic Party to make full
efforts to realize an early parliamentary passage of a supplementary budget for
fiscal 2009 and related bills, according to Aso.
The move fueled speculation that Aso is exploring the possibility of dissolving
the House of Representatives for a general election after seeing the extra
budget enacted.
Aso has suggested several times that he may dissolve the lower house for an
election before the extra budget or related bills clear the Diet if the
opposition blocks their passage.
In a meeting with senior LDP lawmakers, Aso said passage of the extra budget is
the ''most important'' task, and added that other important measures, including
a bill to authorize overseas dispatches of the Self-Defense Forces to counter
piracy, should also be passed by the end of the current Diet session on June 3,
LDP lawmakers said.
Other laws mentioned were bills to amend the pension and organ transplant laws,
according to LDP lawmakers who met with Aso at his office.
The lawmakers included Hiroyuki Hosoda, LDP secretary general, and Tadamori
Oshima, the party's Diet affairs panel chief.
==Kyodo
2009-04-20 21:00:40