DPJ to pick new leader Fri., Cabinet likely to be formed Mon.+

TOKYO, June 2 Kyodo -
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan will choose its new leader on Friday and a
new Cabinet is likely to be launched on Monday, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro
Ozawa told a party meeting Wednesday, following Prime Minister and DPJ
President Yukio Hatoyama's announcement that he is stepping down.
The DPJ No. 2 also suggested at the meeting of the party's Standing Officers
Council that the House of Councillors election will be held on July 11 as
widely expected, saying it is desirable to proceed with existing plans.
A senior DPJ lawmaker suggested that the current ordinary session of parliament
will not be extended beyond its scheduled June 16 end. An extension would rule
out holding the upper house election on July 11.
Some observers had said an extension would be necessary to pick a new party
leader and then enact major pieces of legislation pending in the Diet,
including one concerning postal service reform, ahead of the election, with
July 25 floated as an alternative ballot day.
Now that an extension seems unlikely, it is uncertain whether they can be
enacted into law during the current session because parliamentary debate will
stop until the middle of this month and even then there will only be several
days left for it.
''A leadership election will be held Friday, and the Cabinet is likely to be
organized on Monday,'' Ozawa said during the meeting.
The next DPJ leader is certain to be elected new prime minister in the Diet,
who will then pick other members of the new Cabinet.
And if the new prime minister is elected on Monday as is now likely, that
person is likely to give an inaugural address to the Diet on Tuesday, followed
by question-and-answer sessions on June 10 and 11.
Meanwhile, all party executives, including Ozawa, are expected to step down
from their posts.
The DPJ decided later Wednesday to begin accepting candidacies for the party
leadership election from 9 a.m. Friday, and hold a general meeting of DPJ Diet
members from 11 a.m. to choose a new leader, who will succeed Hatoyama as prime
minister.
A DPJ president is normally elected with votes from party lawmakers, party
members and supporters.
But party rules stipulate that in the event of a vacancy in the post in the
middle of a leader's tenure, a new president can be chosen at a general meeting
at which party lawmakers will cast their votes. Such a system is preferred when
the Diet is in session because the formal leadership election process takes
several weeks to complete.
Rules used to choose a party leader at a general meeting are devised in each
such election. In the last leadership election in May last year, which was held
upon Ozawa's resignation over a funds scandal, candidates who obtained
endorsements from 20 or more party lawmakers were able to file their candidacy.
Hatoyama was then elected in a secret ballot among party lawmakers.
A party leader's tenure is normally two years, but a leader chosen at a general
meeting serves the remainder of the predecessor's term.
Hatoyama's term lasts until the end of September -- essentially the end of the
tenure of his predecessor Ozawa. Whoever is chosen at the meeting of party
lawmakers on Friday will therefore have to stand again in another leadership
election by the end of September.
==Kyodo
2010-06-03 00:00:00