Hatoyama's brother quits LDP, aiming to form new party+

TOKYO, March 15 Kyodo -
Former internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama, the younger brother of Prime
Minister Yukio Hatoyama, announced Monday that he has left the main opposition
Liberal Democratic Party and will form a new party.

''The current LDP alone cannot bring about a major change in Japanese
politics,'' Kunio Hatoyama, 61, told reporters Monday evening after tendering
his resignation letter to the LDP, indicating he hopes to create a new party
before the Golden Week holidays starting at the end of April.
The move deals a fresh blow to the LDP leadership of President Sadakazu
Tanigaki, who has been striving to rebuild the party since it was ousted from
power in the House of Representatives election last August for only the second
time since its establishment in 1955, and efforts to remove Tanigaki from the
top post could pick up pace.
His resignation could also touch off moves toward political realignment ahead
of another crucial election this summer for the House of Councillors.
Kunio Hatoyama is the sixth member of the LDP to leave the party since the
historic defeat and is the first lower house member to do so.
''The LDP's biggest failure is that it was thrown out of power,'' Kunio
Hatoyama said. ''This country is entering the path of collapse...That cannot be
halted by the LDP alone. I decided that it would be good to recruit colleagues
and create a new party so I can work hard in a powerful opposition party.''
But he denied that he had resigned due to squabbling within the LDP.
''It would be best if I can help to link the most intelligent politician in
Japan, Kaoru Yosano, and the most popular one, Yoichi Masuzoe,'' he said,
referring to himself as Sakamoto Ryoma, a samurai famous for brokering the
alliance between the Satsuma and Choshu clans during the last days of the
Tokugawa Shogunate.
Both former Finance Minister Yosano and former Health, Labor and Welfare
Minister Masuzoe have criticized the LDP leadership and hinted that they would
quit the LDP to create a new party.
Kunio Hatoyama said he hopes either of the lawmakers would head his envisioned
party.
Amid lingering speculation that the Hatoyama brothers could team up at some
point, Yukio Hatoyama, who leads the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, brushed
aside such a possibility.
''It probably was an action taken after considering various things, but it's my
brother's business,'' the prime minister said Monday evening. ''I'm not
thinking about partnering with him.''
Ruling bloc politicians appeared to take Kunio Hatoyama's departure from the
LDP in their stride.
While being surprised by the announcement, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa
told a press conference, ''I understand that it is a result of his following
his own beliefs, but it doesn't mean that I have any intention of working with
him.''
''I don't have any interest in the matter,'' Yukio Edano, a DPJ lawmaker and
minister in charge of administrative reform, told reporters. ''It's just a fire
on the other side of the river.''
''I doubt that any political realignment will take place,'' Edano said. ''It's
important that we properly manage the government.''
Finance Minister Naoto Kan said ironically, ''I wonder how many times he has
left a political party.''
Kunio Hatoyama, who was first elected to the lower house in 1976, is currently
serving his 11th term. He left the LDP in 1993 and returned to it in 2000 after
joining the New Frontier Party and the DPJ.
His resignation came after he said Sunday that he was ready to leave the LDP
and create a new party with like-minded party colleagues, including Yosano and
Masuzoe.
Besides serving as minister of internal affairs and communications in the last
LDP-led government of Prime Minister Taro Aso, he has also held the posts of
justice, labor and education minister in previous governments.
Adding to the LDP's woes Monday, Hiroyuki Sonoda, the party's acting secretary
general, who like Kunio Hatoyama has criticized the party leadership, decided
to quit his party post.
''The policy for running the party does not agree with mine and it's strange for
me to keep serving as a member of the leadership,'' Sonoda told reporters. ''I
told the secretary general that I want to offer my opinions on how to make the
party better and that I want to resign from my position.''
Sonoda denied, however, that his decision represents his first step toward
forming a new party.
==Kyodo
2010-03-15 23:10:38