Hatoyama has no plans to quit, alter Cabinet lineup, DPJ leadership+

TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Friday that despite a plunging public
support rating for his Cabinet, he has no plans to step down as prime minister,
or reshuffle the Cabinet lineup or the leadership of his Democratic Party of
Japan ahead of the House of Councillors elections this summer.

However, Hatoyama said he is aware of the plunge in the rating, which has
dropped to the 30 percent range from highs of over 70 percent shortly after he
took office last September.
''I understand it to be a situation I should take seriously, but I don't take
the position that I should just quit,'' Hatoyama said during a news conference.
''I'm not thinking about resignation.''
On the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle and party leadership change to buoy
his party's fortune before the key nationwide election, Hatoyama, who serves as
DPJ president, said he does not think that now is the time for such moves.
''Under these circumstances, I must first pull the Cabinet together steadily,''
he said, adding he will also have to boost his party's solidarity.
Polls indicate that sentiment is growing in the public for the resignation of
DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, who serves in the party's No. 2 post, over
a funds scandal in which three of his current and former aides have been
indicted.
Hatoyama's news conference was held two days after parliament approved a record
92.3 trillion yen budget for the new fiscal year from next Thursday, the first
one crafted by his coalition government since its launch last September.
Regarding the ''politics and money'' scandals involving DPJ lawmakers including
Ozawa and Hatoyama himself, the prime minister said he is ''well aware'' that
the public is angry.
''We'll have to pave the way for a solution to this kind of problem
appropriately,'' Hatoyama said, renewing his calls for banning political
donations from corporations and organizations through legislation.
Hatoyama also said that those involved in political donation scandals should
adequately explain themselves to the public. But with regard to fellow DPJ
lawmaker Chiyomi Kobayashi, who is involved in a funds scandal, he said no
disciplinary action is in the offing.
''Given that no charges have been brought against her, we as a party are not
currently thinking about a so-called disciplinary action against her,'' he
said.
Hatoyama suggested earlier that the DPJ will take disciplinary action against
Kobayashi, telling reporters that the indictment of two people over a funds
scandal connected with her election campaign should be taken seriously.
As to the upcoming upper house election, which is expected to be held in July,
Hatoyama declined to say how many seats are needed to be captured by his party
for him to declare victory, saying at the news conference, ''Right now, I'm not
in a situation to set a victory-or-defeat line.''
But the DPJ leader vowed to craft ''tactics'' in consultation with Ozawa, the
DPJ's master election strategist put in charge of the upcoming election, to win
the election.
While holding a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives due to its
electoral victory last summer, the DPJ lacks a majority in the upper house on
its own and relies on non-DPJ lawmakers to secure passage of bills in the
chamber.
At the news conference, Hatoyama also called for consultations between the
ruling and opposition parties over pension, social security and other domestic
issues.
''This is not the time for the ruling and opposition parties to bicker with
each other over these big themes,'' he said.
==Kyodo
2010-03-27 01:40:56


Delete & Prev | Delete & Next