ID :
118224
Fri, 04/23/2010 - 01:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/118224
The shortlink copeid
Ex-minister Masuzoe quits LDP to form new party Fri.
+
TOKYO, April 22 Kyodo -
A former popular health minister, Yoichi Masuzoe, tendered Thursday a letter of
resignation to the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party to form a new party
Friday ahead of this summer's House of Councillors election.
The departure of Masuzoe, 61, who often leads opinion polls on the most
suitable prime minister, will deal another blow to the LDP, which has recently
been deserted by other bigwig lawmakers and continues to struggle with low
popularity ratings since its historic defeat in last year's general election.
Masuzoe's action, the latest among unfolding moves to quit the LDP to launch a
new party in the run-up to the national election, also highlights a lack of
leadership by LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki and undermines the leader's clout
within the party.
In a news conference, however, Tanigaki shrugged off any repercussions of
Masuzoe's resignation on his party.
Masuzoe, a House of Councillors member who won his Diet seat under the
proportional representation system, will hold a press conference on his planned
new party Friday.
On Thursday, former state secretary for foreign affairs Tetsuro Yano, a
63-year-old member of the upper chamber, also submitted his resignation letter
to the LDP with an eye toward joining the envisaged new party.
Earlier in the day, Masuzoe told reporters that the new party, which he plans
to lead, will seek to overcome deflation in Japan, make the country more
competitive internationally and clear politics of money scandals.
''What needs to be done right now is not to look back on the past, but how we
can create a new type of politics and how we can overcome stagnation,'' he
said, referring to a set of critical comments by LDP lawmakers over his
resignation.
Expressing openly his resentment over Masuzoe, Tanigaki said if he launches a
new party, he should do so after resigning from the Diet and returning his seat
to the LDP.
The former health minister's act is ''totally intolerable,'' the LDP chief said.
According to Masuzoe, he will first join the minor opposition Japan Renaissance
Party, then change its name and create his own party to take over state
subsidies provided to the opposition party.
Three members of the Japan Renaissance Party have already conveyed their
interest in helping Masuzoe form a new party. The three are the party's head
Hideo Watanabe, Secretary General Hiroyuki Arai and policy chief Toshio
Yamauchi.
The Japan Renaissance Party decided at its general meeting Thursday to allow
Masuzoe, Yano and Masakatsu Koike, an upper house lawmaker who recently quit
the LDP, to become members of the party, while letting Kishiro Nakamura, a
House of Representatives lawmaker, leave it. Nakamura had been against setting
up a new party.
Masuzoe, a former TV commentator and a former associate professor at the
University of Tokyo, said he will also broadly seek people to run in the
upcoming election from his party.
Former internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama, Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama's younger brother who left the LDP in March, said Thursday he will not
join Masuzoe.
The former health minister has been critical of the LDP's leadership and has
apparently determined that the LDP, under Tanigaki, is unlikely to win the
upper house election against the Democratic Party of Japan headed by Yukio
Hatoyama.
Masuzoe was also under pressure from LDP colleagues for his repeated criticism
of the party leadership, adding momentum to his departure from the party. Some
LDP figures had accused him of damaging party unity, which already appeared to
be at an all-time low.
His latest action follows the launch earlier this month of the Sunrise Party of
Japan, or Tachiagare Nippon in Japanese, by former ministers Takeo Hiranuma and
Kaoru Yosano and other LDP defectors, and two other parties by local leaders
earlier this week.
Including Masuzoe and Yano, a total of 13 lawmakers have left the conservative
LDP since the House of Representatives election last August, which ended the
LDP's almost continuous rule of Japanese politics since its establishment in
1955.
Masuzoe is likely to secure five Diet members to meet the legal requirement for
endorsement as a political party.
The new party will likely be named Shinto Kaikaku in Japanese, but its English
name is not immediately available.
A native of Fukuoka and graduate of the University of Tokyo, Masuzoe won his
first Diet seat in the 2001 upper house election, racking up the biggest number
of ballots under the proportional-representation system.
==Kyodo
2010-04-22 23:40:24
TOKYO, April 22 Kyodo -
A former popular health minister, Yoichi Masuzoe, tendered Thursday a letter of
resignation to the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party to form a new party
Friday ahead of this summer's House of Councillors election.
The departure of Masuzoe, 61, who often leads opinion polls on the most
suitable prime minister, will deal another blow to the LDP, which has recently
been deserted by other bigwig lawmakers and continues to struggle with low
popularity ratings since its historic defeat in last year's general election.
Masuzoe's action, the latest among unfolding moves to quit the LDP to launch a
new party in the run-up to the national election, also highlights a lack of
leadership by LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki and undermines the leader's clout
within the party.
In a news conference, however, Tanigaki shrugged off any repercussions of
Masuzoe's resignation on his party.
Masuzoe, a House of Councillors member who won his Diet seat under the
proportional representation system, will hold a press conference on his planned
new party Friday.
On Thursday, former state secretary for foreign affairs Tetsuro Yano, a
63-year-old member of the upper chamber, also submitted his resignation letter
to the LDP with an eye toward joining the envisaged new party.
Earlier in the day, Masuzoe told reporters that the new party, which he plans
to lead, will seek to overcome deflation in Japan, make the country more
competitive internationally and clear politics of money scandals.
''What needs to be done right now is not to look back on the past, but how we
can create a new type of politics and how we can overcome stagnation,'' he
said, referring to a set of critical comments by LDP lawmakers over his
resignation.
Expressing openly his resentment over Masuzoe, Tanigaki said if he launches a
new party, he should do so after resigning from the Diet and returning his seat
to the LDP.
The former health minister's act is ''totally intolerable,'' the LDP chief said.
According to Masuzoe, he will first join the minor opposition Japan Renaissance
Party, then change its name and create his own party to take over state
subsidies provided to the opposition party.
Three members of the Japan Renaissance Party have already conveyed their
interest in helping Masuzoe form a new party. The three are the party's head
Hideo Watanabe, Secretary General Hiroyuki Arai and policy chief Toshio
Yamauchi.
The Japan Renaissance Party decided at its general meeting Thursday to allow
Masuzoe, Yano and Masakatsu Koike, an upper house lawmaker who recently quit
the LDP, to become members of the party, while letting Kishiro Nakamura, a
House of Representatives lawmaker, leave it. Nakamura had been against setting
up a new party.
Masuzoe, a former TV commentator and a former associate professor at the
University of Tokyo, said he will also broadly seek people to run in the
upcoming election from his party.
Former internal affairs minister Kunio Hatoyama, Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama's younger brother who left the LDP in March, said Thursday he will not
join Masuzoe.
The former health minister has been critical of the LDP's leadership and has
apparently determined that the LDP, under Tanigaki, is unlikely to win the
upper house election against the Democratic Party of Japan headed by Yukio
Hatoyama.
Masuzoe was also under pressure from LDP colleagues for his repeated criticism
of the party leadership, adding momentum to his departure from the party. Some
LDP figures had accused him of damaging party unity, which already appeared to
be at an all-time low.
His latest action follows the launch earlier this month of the Sunrise Party of
Japan, or Tachiagare Nippon in Japanese, by former ministers Takeo Hiranuma and
Kaoru Yosano and other LDP defectors, and two other parties by local leaders
earlier this week.
Including Masuzoe and Yano, a total of 13 lawmakers have left the conservative
LDP since the House of Representatives election last August, which ended the
LDP's almost continuous rule of Japanese politics since its establishment in
1955.
Masuzoe is likely to secure five Diet members to meet the legal requirement for
endorsement as a political party.
The new party will likely be named Shinto Kaikaku in Japanese, but its English
name is not immediately available.
A native of Fukuoka and graduate of the University of Tokyo, Masuzoe won his
first Diet seat in the 2001 upper house election, racking up the biggest number
of ballots under the proportional-representation system.
==Kyodo
2010-04-22 23:40:24