LDP's Nakagawa reiterates demand for Aso to step down before election

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TOKYO, June 29 Kyodo -
Hidenao Nakagawa, former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party, on Monday repeated his demand for Prime Minister Taro Aso to step down
amid moves within the party to replace the unpopular Aso before an upcoming
general election.
''In order to improve the current situation, it is best that the prime minister
step down,'' Nakagawa was quoted as telling a meeting of around 20 LDP
lawmakers who are critical of Aso, lawmakers who attended the meeting said.
Another former LDP security general, Tsutomu Takebe, also called at the meeting
for Aso, who doubles as party president, to be replaced with a new leader after
an LDP presidential election ahead of the House of Representatives election,
which must be held by October, the lawmakers said.
Aso told reporters on Monday evening that he has no intention of holding an LDP
presidential election before the general election, adding that he will decide
on the timing for the dissolution of the lower house and the election.
The LDP meeting was attended by so-called ''Koizumi children'' who first
entered the lower house after the 2005 election on the overwhelming popularity
of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Koizumi, who also attended the meeting, said that the upcoming election will be
''unprecedentedly difficult for the LDP,'' the participants said.
A group of around 10 LDP lawmakers who maintain a distance from Aso, including
former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, held a separate meeting in
Tokyo.
Some LDP members also expressed caution about the prime minister reshuffling
the LDP leadership in a bid to regain popularity.
On whether he is considering reshuffling the LDP leadership or his Cabinet, Aso
said, ''I am not thinking about it at this point.''
==Kyodo
2009-06-29 23:08:59