Kunio Hatoyama takes initial steps toward forming new party+

TOKYO, March 16 Kyodo -
Former internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama on Tuesday took initial steps
toward forming a new party, a day after submitting a letter announcing his
resignation from the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party to the party's
leadership.

The younger brother of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama talked with former Finance
Minister Kaoru Yosano, a veteran LDP lawmaker who is critical of the party's
leadership, on several occasions on the floor of the House of Representatives
in the afternoon.
Kunio Hatoyama also interacted briefly with former economy minister Takeo
Hiranuma, who has been a nonaffiliated lower house member since leaving the
LDP, and former construction minister Kishiro Nakamura, a member of the Japan
Renaissance Party who used to belong to the LDP.
While the content of his conversations remains unclear, Kunio Hatoyama
apparently sounded out the lawmakers about the possibility of their joining a
new party that he could establish soon, possibly next month.
But many observers say Kunio Hatoyama is likely to face difficulties enlisting
four other lawmakers to form a group -- the number necessary for it to qualify
as a political party -- given the mistrust of him among Diet members.
Kunio Hatoyama has frequently switched party affiliations over the years,
leaving the LDP in 1993 to join the now defunct New Frontier Party and then the
Democratic Party of Japan before returning to his old party in 2000.
Yosano and Kunio Hatoyama, both members of the House of Representatives, talked
briefly on the chamber's floor on Tuesday afternoon. Asked if they talked about
forming a new party, Kunio Hatoyama told reporters, ''We can talk eye to eye.''
He also exchanged words with his brother, Yukio Hatoyama, in the chamber.
''When I said I'll be alone for a while, he said, 'Hang in there','' Kunio
Hatoyama said, denying that they discussed a possible partnership.
''We encouraged each other,'' the prime minister told reporters later in the day.
The prime minister said Monday he has not thought about partnering with his
brother, with whom he co-founded the DPJ in 1996.
Kunio Hatoyama ''left the party according to his own convictions, feeling a
sense of crisis about the LDP,'' Yosano told reporters in the morning.
He said, however, that it is too early to speculate on the possibility of his
forging a partnership with the 61-year-old Kunio Hatoyama in forming a new
political party.
''At this stage, the priority is to listen to him,'' the 71-year-old Yosano
said. ''I will first see what's happening and go from there because I haven't
thought about anything.''
Hiranuma, 70, expressed his understanding for Kunio Hatoyama's decision,
telling reporters, ''I agree to the initiation of a new political current.''
''While our ideas on opposing the privatization of postal services are similar,
I don't know of anything else,'' he said.
With the main opposition party rocked by Kunio Hatoyama's move, LDP President
Sadakazu Tanigaki told a meeting of party executives earlier Tuesday that he
will do his best to keep the commotion within the LDP to a minimum and maintain
party solidarity.
Also on Tuesday, more than 50 LDP lawmakers from both houses of parliament
petitioned Tanigaki to form a shadow cabinet and revamp the party's leadership
by tapping younger members. Tanigaki promised to consider the request.
In the morning, Kunio Hatoyama told reporters that he will seek a partnership
with Yosano and Yoichi Masuzoe, a former health, labor and welfare minister who
has also been critical of the LDP's leadership.
Masuzoe told reporters that he received a call from Kunio Hatoyama on Monday
night and indicated that he would watch developments until the budget clears
parliament, most likely in late March.
==Kyodo
2010-03-16 23:47:03