Ex-finance minister Yosano to leave LDP, launch new party next week+

TOKYO, April 3 Kyodo -
Former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said Saturday he will leave the Liberal
Democratic Party on Wednesday to form a new party, delivering a fresh blow to
the embattled main opposition party ahead of an upper house election this
summer.
Yosano plans to launch the new party as early as Thursday along with
independent House of Representatives lawmaker Takeo Hiranuma, who has already
begun preparations for creating a new party, with the two politicians expected
to jointly lead it, according to an LDP lawmaker who declined to be identified.
The envisioned party is expected to start with five Diet members, some sources
close to the lawmakers said, meeting a legal requirement for a political party.
Including former Diet members, the number could reach around 10, the sources
said.
Yosano, an LDP heavyweight and expert on economic policy, told reporters
Saturday that he received a phone call from LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki
earlier in the day and they held talks for about 20 minutes at the party's
headquarters.
''I told him that Mr. Sonoda and I will leave the party...and I submitted a
letter of resignation,'' the 71-year-old lower house lawmaker said.
Yosano was referring to former LDP Acting Secretary General Hiroyuki Sonoda
who, according to Yosano, will also tender a letter of resignation to the party
next week.
Yosano and Sonoda have criticized Tanigaki for the LDP's failure to take
advantage of repeated blunders by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the
LDP's inability to improve its popularity ratings, which have remained sluggish
since its historic defeat in last year's general election, urging the president
to reshuffle the leadership.
The seasoned lawmaker said he told the LDP chief that in order for the LDP to
return to power it has to recruit young people, attack the ruling parties in
Diet debates and reconsider a new political paradigm.
''I said to him, 'Otherwise, there is no future for the LDP,''' Yosano told
reporters.
The LDP fell from power as a result of the crushing election defeat last August
to the DPJ after ruling Japan almost continuously for more than half a century.
Tanigaki said ''it's a shame'' Yosano has chosen to leave the LDP, indicating
he will accept his resignation.
He said he called Yosano as ''I wanted to ask him if there is any way of our
working together as we share the same goal of driving the DPJ out of power.''
In a magazine article in March, Yosano, who is seeking to raise the consumption
tax, denounced the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama for failing to
rebuild the nation's battered finances as well as Tanigaki for not being able
to overturn the government.
Tanigaki said he understands that Yosano wanted to take action in line with his
words.
In addition to Yosano, Sonoda and Hiranuma, former transport minister Takao
Fujii, a House of Councillors member of the LDP, will likely join their
envisaged new party.
Among other possible members is Yoshio Nakagawa, a conservative LDP upper house
lawmaker, who is close to Hiranuma, a former economy, trade and industry
minister.
Hiranuma, who was effectively expelled from the LDP in 2005 due to his
opposition to a postal privatization bill spearheaded by then Prime Minister
and LDP President Junichiro Koizumi, has also solicited participation from such
lawmakers as Ryuji Koizumi and Minoru Kiuchi, independent lower house members
who were also ousted from the party the same way.
Yosano and Hiranuma will likely meet Monday with other candidates to discuss
details of their party including the name, the timing to launch it, and its
members.
Sonoda, a lower house lawmaker who is also critical of the leadership, stood
down from the party post in March citing a disagreement over how to manage the
LDP.
In his constituency in Kumamoto Prefecture on Saturday, Sonoda told voters, ''I
would like to create another party and gain support from many people.''
The resignation of Yosano and Sonoda comes after former Internal Affairs and
Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama, the younger brother of Prime Minister
Hatoyama, left the LDP in March.
Since winning his Diet seat in the 1976 lower house election, Yosano, a
graduate of the University of Tokyo, has served as education minister, trade
minister and finance minister and also held important LDP posts such as policy
chief.
Yosano lost the August election in the No. 1 constituency in Tokyo to Banri
Kaieda of the DPJ, but managed to retain his Diet seat through the
proportional-representation system.
The politician, who has undergone a larynx cancer operation, once became dizzy
during the election campaign, fanning concerns about his health.
He is known to be close to DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa.
==Kyodo