Aso to step down as LDP president, calls for party renewal

TOKYO, Aug. 31 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Taro Aso said officially Monday he will resign as president of
the Liberal Democratic Party to take the blame for the party's historic defeat
in Sunday's general election.
''It's quite regrettable that I've lost many of our colleagues, I'm feeling my
heavy responsibility as president,'' Aso said at a news conference. ''I should
resign as president and the LDP should start anew.''
Aso said the election loss resulted from his party's failure to address social
problems appropriately, including the growth in inequalities and what he said
was a sense of stagnation among the people.
''I believe there was public discontent with LDP politics itself,'' he said,
also acknowledging criticism directed at himself over his occasional verbal
gaffes and flip-flops on policy issues.
Aso vowed that his party, whose presence in the House of Representatives was
whittled down from 300 seats to 119, will revive itself and win back power from
the Democratic Party of Japan, which prevailed in the election.
But to do so, he said, the party must think carefully about its own nature
first, given that people have voted out of power a party that had governed the
country almost uninterruptedly for the past 54 years since its founding and
become synonymous with the nation's rise from the ashes of World War II.
The 68-year-old said the LDP must begin the rebuilding process by listening to
people in the party's regional organizations, saying he plans to bring together
party officials from across the country, possibly by the end of this week, to
discuss the issue.
The LDP will hold a leadership election Sept. 28, two days before the end of
Aso's presidential term, to pick a new party president, party Secretary General
Hiroyuki Hosoda said the same day.
That means the leadership election will be held after Yukio Hatoyama, president
of the DPJ, which captured 308 seats in the lower house election, is elected
new prime minister at a special parliamentary session expected to be called on
Sept. 15.
In the news conference, Aso said he would prefer to see a party leadership
election held after the prime ministerial election, even though that may force
his party colleagues to vote for their departing leader as their choice for
next prime minister.
''Choosing a new president too quickly would lead to discontent among party
members in regional areas,'' he said, adding that his party should take
sufficient time to enable the party's revitalization.
As to the qualities he wants to see in the next LDP leader, Aso said that to
revitalize the party, his successor must be someone with strong convictions and
the ability to lead.
So far, farm minister Shigeru Ishiba has indicated his willingness to run in
the presidential race, with health minister Yoichi Masuzoe and acting party
Secretary General Nobuteru Ishihara being floated as potential contenders.
While congratulating the DPJ on realizing its long-held ambition to take power,
Aso said his party is concerned about whether the DPJ can handle national
security matters smoothly if it enters into a coalition government with the
Social Democratic Party.
The DPJ and SDP have several differences, especially on foreign policy and
security issues, which could prove to be a source of disunity for a coalition
government the two parties are planning to form.
Aso was widely expected to dissolve the lower house for a general election soon
after taking office last September but waited until late July to do so.
On Monday, he defended his decision, saying the worsening economy amid a global
financial crisis forced him to prioritize stimulus measures.
''My judgment was not mistaken,'' he said.
==Kyodo