Japan Prime Minister Hatoyama Announces Resignation

Tokyo, June 2 (Jiji Press)--Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced his resignation on Wednesday, after his perceived mishandling of main policy issues and money scandals sharply eroded public support ahead of a key election this summer.

Speaking at a joint meeting of fellow Democratic Party of Japan
lawmakers from both chambers of the Diet, or parliament, Hatoyama said he
needs to take responsibility for causing confusion over the relocation of
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan of Okinawa Prefecture,
southern Japan.
Hatoyama, DPJ president, also cited funding scandals involving
himself and DPJ Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa as reasons for his decision
to step down.
Hatoyama's cabinet will resign en masse just eight and a half
months after its formation in September last year. The DPJ leadership team
including party kingpin Ozawa also decided to resign.
At an executive meeting, the DPJ decided to hold a party leadership
election on Friday morning. The party started discussions with the
opposition camp so that the Diet can elect the next prime minister on that
day.
Ozawa told the DPJ meeting that the new cabinet is expected be
formed on Monday and that the nation's new leader will likely deliver a
policy speech to the Diet also on Monday.
Finance Minister Naoto Kan, a former DPJ president, is seen as a
top candidate for prime minister. Other likely candidates include Foreign
Minister Katsuya Okada and transport minister Seiji Maehara.
"Kan is a key candidate," said Hajime Ishii, who chairs the DPJ's
Election Campaign Committee.
Hatoyama has come under increasing pressure from DPJ members to
step down due mainly to his poor handling of the Futenma base relocation
issue.
Public support ratings for Hatoyama's cabinet have fallen below 20
pct at a crucial time when the House of Councillors election, now expected
for July 11, is drawing near.
The Hatoyama government last week adopted a plan to transfer the
Futenma base to the Henoko coastal area of Nago, also Okinawa, reneging on
his campaign promise last year to move the base out of the southernmost
prefecture.
Angered by the decision, the Social Democratic Party of Japan,
which has called for the base to be move out of Okinawa, quit the DPJ-led
ruling coalition.
At the DPJ meeting, Hatoyama said, "I must take responsibility for
causing the SDP to leave the ruling camp."
Hatoyama also expressed his strong hope that the DPJ will mark "a
clear departure" from its financing scandals.
Hatoyama noted that a former secretary has been found guilty over
such a scandal and that former aides to Ozawa have been indicted over a
difference campaign finance affair.
Hatoyama said he has asked Ozawa to step down, saying that his
resignation will help restore a clean DPJ free of money scandals. Ozawa
accepted the request, according to Hatoyama.
The Hatoyama government was launched after the DPJ achieved a
landslide in the House of Representatives election in August last year,
putting an end to about five decades of almost uninterrupted rule by the
Liberal Democratic Party.
The DPJ-led government initially drew strong support from voters,
with promises of drastic policy changes, including reestablishment of strong
political leadership and elimination of wasteful government expenditures.
But public confidence in the government was undermined by the
revelation of financing irregularities embroiling Hatoyama and Ozawa, as
well as by the prime minister's alleged inconsistency and indecision on key
policy issues.