Kunio Hatoyama faces difficulty finding allies after leaving LDP+

TOKYO, March 17 Kyodo -
Kunio Hatoyama, a former internal affairs minister and the younger brother of
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, has encountered difficulty recruiting allies
after leaving the Liberal Democratic Party to form a new party, with LDP
lawmakers whose support he had counted on remaining cautious Wednesday about
joining him.
Hatoyama, 61, quit the LDP with the hope of teaming up at some point with
senior LDP members such as former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano and former
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe, who have been critical of
the party's leadership, to create his envisioned party ahead of a crucial
national election this summer.
However, members of a group supporting Masuzoe expressed caution Wednesday
about standing with Hatoyama, who they claim does not necessarily share the
same goal.
''I don't think we should give people an impression that we are going to work
together with someone who doesn't have the same way of thinking as ours,''
Ichita Yamamoto, a House of Councillors member who attended a meeting of the
group, told reporters.
Likewise, supporters of Yosano showed no intention of joining him.
''It is almost impossible for us to tie up with Mr. Hatoyama, who is embroiled
in a funding scandal in connection with the money provided by his mother, just
like the prime minister,'' Masazumi Gotoda, a lower house member, told
reporters.
He was referring to the allegation that the political fund management bodies of
the Hatoyama brothers had been provided with more than a billion yen each by
their wealthy mother.
Asked earlier in the day how many allies he has been able to recruit, Hatoyama
told reporters in front of his home, ''I have been aware that a thorny path
awaits me.''
He has said he is seeking to set up a new party before the Golden Week holidays
from the end of April. The Political Funds Control Law stipulates that a
political party needs five or more Diet members for endorsement.
''I am talking about my hope, and there are some who demand I do so even
sooner,'' he said Wednesday.
Masuzoe, a popular politician, did not deny the possibility of teaming up with
Hatoyama.
''In the political world, we don't need to play down every possibility, but
policies constitute the basics for politicians,'' Masuzoe said after the group
meeting that brought together about 20 members from both the upper house and
the House of Representatives.
He also said, ''Our enemy is the Democratic Party of Japan and the (Yukio)
Hatoyama government. Our focus should be what we should do to topple it.''
But there have been no talks for a possible meeting between him and Hatoyama,
according to Masuzoe.
Yosano, who Hatoyama admires as ''the most intelligent politician in Japan,''
said, ''It takes more than 10 years to age wine,'' suggesting that it is
unlikely that he would immediately join hands with Hatoyama.
On Wednesday, Yosano and his proteges decided in a meeting to call on LDP
President Sadakazu Tanigaki to reshuffle the leadership in a bid to push up
popularity ratings for the LDP, which have remained low despite the declining
voter support for the DPJ.
Yosano told the meeting, ''The leadership must take seriously the fact that
public support ratings for the LDP are not rising,'' according to those who
attended.
LDP Secretary General Tadamori Oshima told reporters, ''We will listen to those
opinions as part of a range of viewpoints.''
Meanwhile, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Shigeru Ishiba harshly
criticized Hatoyama's departure.
''I don't understand why he is leaving the party...or for what purpose he is
trying to realign the political world,'' he said in a press conference, adding
that he doubts Hatoyama's act is based on any specific policy goal.
Hatoyama has said his resignation is aimed at giving an impetus to realignment
in Japan's political landscape, which he argues is currently in the worst
situation, heading toward collapse.
He blames some of the DPJ-led government's policies, such as what he calls
''socialistic'' pork-barrel economic steps or its plan to grant local suffrage
to permanent foreign residents.
The veteran lawmaker Monday tendered a resignation letter to the LDP, which
fell from power in last year's lower house election for only the second time
since its establishment in 1955.
The party's leadership accepted it and plans to convene its ethics committee
shortly to make a final decision on whether to permit his resignation or expel
him instead.
An upper house election is set to take place this summer, in which the DPJ is
hoping to secure a majority so it can break from its alliance with two minor
parties, while the LDP aims to recover lost ground.
==Kyodo