ID :
58932
Tue, 05/05/2009 - 09:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/58932
The shortlink copeid
National election could coincide with Tokyo assembly poll: Aso+
PRAGUE, May 4 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso suggested Sunday a general election could be held around the time of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election slated for July 12, although the New Komeito party, the coalition partner of Aso's Liberal Democratic Party, does not want a poll then.
''If asked which should take precedence -- the lower house election or the
Tokyo metropolitan assembly election -- then it is the lower house election,''
Aso told Japanese reporters in the Czech capital Prague, where he was visiting
to meet with leaders of the country and the European Union.
New Komeito has insisted the general election should not take place around the
time of the Tokyo poll as it wants to concentrate its efforts on the local
election. Tokyo is the major power base for the party, which is backed by Soka
Gakkai, an influential lay Buddhist organization.
Aso said national security could be one focal issue of the general election,
blasting a suggestion by Ichiro Ozawa, president of the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan, that the U.S. 7th Fleet would be enough to secure
the U.S. presence in and around Japan.
Tax reforms, including a possible increase in the consumption tax, could be
another focus of the race, he said.
Aso has argued that his LDP is more responsible than other parties and would
ask the public to shoulder a financial burden, including a consumption tax
hike, to cover ballooning social security costs amid the aging of the
population.
Meanwhile, the premier played down the possibility that ''hereditary
politics,'' in which politicians ''inherit'' the seats of relatives, will come
up as an election issue and indicated a negative stance against imposing
restrictions on its candidates to prevent such practices.
''It is not that a hereditary candidate is good or bad,'' Aso, who is from a
political family himself, said. ''The point is how a political party can pick
capable persons for its candidates.''
His comments came after the DPJ recently decided to ban its candidates from
inheriting the constituencies of relatives within the third degree of kinship,
in an attempt to differentiate itself from the LDP, which has a number of
hereditary lawmakers.
The lower house election must be held by this fall, as the terms of its members
are set to expire Sept. 10.
On the possibility of extending the current Diet session ending June 3, Aso
only said it is up to how the DPJ-led opposition camp responds to a fiscal 2009
extra budget and other important bills that are currently in parliament.
Aso, on a four-day trip to Czech Republic and Germany, is scheduled to return
to Tokyo on Wednesday.
''If asked which should take precedence -- the lower house election or the
Tokyo metropolitan assembly election -- then it is the lower house election,''
Aso told Japanese reporters in the Czech capital Prague, where he was visiting
to meet with leaders of the country and the European Union.
New Komeito has insisted the general election should not take place around the
time of the Tokyo poll as it wants to concentrate its efforts on the local
election. Tokyo is the major power base for the party, which is backed by Soka
Gakkai, an influential lay Buddhist organization.
Aso said national security could be one focal issue of the general election,
blasting a suggestion by Ichiro Ozawa, president of the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan, that the U.S. 7th Fleet would be enough to secure
the U.S. presence in and around Japan.
Tax reforms, including a possible increase in the consumption tax, could be
another focus of the race, he said.
Aso has argued that his LDP is more responsible than other parties and would
ask the public to shoulder a financial burden, including a consumption tax
hike, to cover ballooning social security costs amid the aging of the
population.
Meanwhile, the premier played down the possibility that ''hereditary
politics,'' in which politicians ''inherit'' the seats of relatives, will come
up as an election issue and indicated a negative stance against imposing
restrictions on its candidates to prevent such practices.
''It is not that a hereditary candidate is good or bad,'' Aso, who is from a
political family himself, said. ''The point is how a political party can pick
capable persons for its candidates.''
His comments came after the DPJ recently decided to ban its candidates from
inheriting the constituencies of relatives within the third degree of kinship,
in an attempt to differentiate itself from the LDP, which has a number of
hereditary lawmakers.
The lower house election must be held by this fall, as the terms of its members
are set to expire Sept. 10.
On the possibility of extending the current Diet session ending June 3, Aso
only said it is up to how the DPJ-led opposition camp responds to a fiscal 2009
extra budget and other important bills that are currently in parliament.
Aso, on a four-day trip to Czech Republic and Germany, is scheduled to return
to Tokyo on Wednesday.
