ID :
127057
Thu, 06/10/2010 - 07:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/127057
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New Cabinet gets down to work, focus on election date
TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's new Cabinet got down to business Wednesday with new
ministers taking over duties from their predecessors, while the immediate focus
is on when an upper house election will be held.
Kan, who launched his Cabinet on Tuesday, is facing the delicate issue of how
to sustain good ties with his Democratic Party of Japan's sole coalition
partner, the People's New Party, which is demanding that a bill to scale back
postal privatization be passed by the end of the current Diet session.
''We have to carefully analyze whether we can faithfully fulfill our promise
with the PNP during the current Diet session,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito
Sengoku said at a news conference.
Sengoku, the government's top spokesman, suggested that the Cabinet and the DPJ
should be realistic about the possibility of passing the bill, even if the Diet
session is extended, as there is only limited time left before the election of
lawmakers whose six-year terms will expire July 25.
''I feel there is no point in saying quixotic things. That's at the back of my
mind,'' Sengoku said.
An extension of the 150-day Diet session, set to end June 16, would likely push
back the House of Councillors election from the widely expected date of July
11.
The Diet session could be extended after Kan and PNP chief Shizuka Kamei agreed
last Friday to stick to the two parties' agreement on forming the coalition,
which includes efforts to ''swiftly pass'' the bill to downscale the country's
postal privatization plans designed by previous governments led by the Liberal
Democratic Party.
But some DPJ lawmakers, encouraged by a V-shaped recovery in the party's public
support ratings following the resignation of Kan's unpopular predecessor Yukio
Hatoyama, are calling for the election to be held in early July without
extending the Diet session.
On Wednesday, Kamei, who has retained his post of financial services and postal
reform minister, warned against such a move and reiterated that the bill must
be passed during the ongoing parliamentary session.
''That's why we've formed the coalition,'' he told reporters.
PNP Secretary General Shozaburo Jimi held a series of discussions with other
coalition lawmakers, including Azuma Koshiishi, the DPJ's upper house caucus
leader and Yoshimitsu Takashima, another DPJ upper house heavyweight, asking
them for cooperation on passing the bill.
''If the agreement between the two parties is broken, leaving the coalition is
one option,'' Jimi told reporters after the meetings. ''We are resolutely
prepared.''
The DPJ definitely wants to avoid the PNP's departure from the coalition as it
does not hold a comfortable majority in the upper house and needs the smaller
party's cooperation in the forthcoming election.
Hatoyama's failure to fulfill his pledge to relocate a U.S. military base
outside of Okinawa Prefecture led the Social Democratic Party to depart from
the ruling coalition prior to his resignation last Wednesday.
Kan also held talks on the matter with DPJ Secretary General Yukio Edano and
other party executives as DPJ upper house lawmakers who will be seeking
re-election are particularly hoping to wrap up the Diet session next week.
''I will try to come up with some sort of answer early tomorrow'' during a
meeting of ruling and opposition secretary generals, Edano said.
All opposition parties appear open to the idea of extending the Diet session if
the ruling bloc provides enough opportunities for them to question Kan on his
government's stance.
''As the new Cabinet has been formed, there should be enough time for debate,''
LDP Secretary General Tadamori Oshima said at a news conference.
As one of his first tasks, Kan selected 22 ruling party members for senior vice
minister posts and 25 others as parliamentary secretaries, the No. 3
ministerial posts.
During a special Cabinet meeting, Kan also discussed the content of his policy
speech, which is expected to be delivered Friday.
Having finalized his Cabinet lineup, Kan said an environment in which his
ministers and the DPJ can work closely together is taking shape gradually.
''I will also try to do my best from tomorrow,'' Kan told reporters in the
evening.
==Kyodo
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's new Cabinet got down to business Wednesday with new
ministers taking over duties from their predecessors, while the immediate focus
is on when an upper house election will be held.
Kan, who launched his Cabinet on Tuesday, is facing the delicate issue of how
to sustain good ties with his Democratic Party of Japan's sole coalition
partner, the People's New Party, which is demanding that a bill to scale back
postal privatization be passed by the end of the current Diet session.
''We have to carefully analyze whether we can faithfully fulfill our promise
with the PNP during the current Diet session,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito
Sengoku said at a news conference.
Sengoku, the government's top spokesman, suggested that the Cabinet and the DPJ
should be realistic about the possibility of passing the bill, even if the Diet
session is extended, as there is only limited time left before the election of
lawmakers whose six-year terms will expire July 25.
''I feel there is no point in saying quixotic things. That's at the back of my
mind,'' Sengoku said.
An extension of the 150-day Diet session, set to end June 16, would likely push
back the House of Councillors election from the widely expected date of July
11.
The Diet session could be extended after Kan and PNP chief Shizuka Kamei agreed
last Friday to stick to the two parties' agreement on forming the coalition,
which includes efforts to ''swiftly pass'' the bill to downscale the country's
postal privatization plans designed by previous governments led by the Liberal
Democratic Party.
But some DPJ lawmakers, encouraged by a V-shaped recovery in the party's public
support ratings following the resignation of Kan's unpopular predecessor Yukio
Hatoyama, are calling for the election to be held in early July without
extending the Diet session.
On Wednesday, Kamei, who has retained his post of financial services and postal
reform minister, warned against such a move and reiterated that the bill must
be passed during the ongoing parliamentary session.
''That's why we've formed the coalition,'' he told reporters.
PNP Secretary General Shozaburo Jimi held a series of discussions with other
coalition lawmakers, including Azuma Koshiishi, the DPJ's upper house caucus
leader and Yoshimitsu Takashima, another DPJ upper house heavyweight, asking
them for cooperation on passing the bill.
''If the agreement between the two parties is broken, leaving the coalition is
one option,'' Jimi told reporters after the meetings. ''We are resolutely
prepared.''
The DPJ definitely wants to avoid the PNP's departure from the coalition as it
does not hold a comfortable majority in the upper house and needs the smaller
party's cooperation in the forthcoming election.
Hatoyama's failure to fulfill his pledge to relocate a U.S. military base
outside of Okinawa Prefecture led the Social Democratic Party to depart from
the ruling coalition prior to his resignation last Wednesday.
Kan also held talks on the matter with DPJ Secretary General Yukio Edano and
other party executives as DPJ upper house lawmakers who will be seeking
re-election are particularly hoping to wrap up the Diet session next week.
''I will try to come up with some sort of answer early tomorrow'' during a
meeting of ruling and opposition secretary generals, Edano said.
All opposition parties appear open to the idea of extending the Diet session if
the ruling bloc provides enough opportunities for them to question Kan on his
government's stance.
''As the new Cabinet has been formed, there should be enough time for debate,''
LDP Secretary General Tadamori Oshima said at a news conference.
As one of his first tasks, Kan selected 22 ruling party members for senior vice
minister posts and 25 others as parliamentary secretaries, the No. 3
ministerial posts.
During a special Cabinet meeting, Kan also discussed the content of his policy
speech, which is expected to be delivered Friday.
Having finalized his Cabinet lineup, Kan said an environment in which his
ministers and the DPJ can work closely together is taking shape gradually.
''I will also try to do my best from tomorrow,'' Kan told reporters in the
evening.
==Kyodo
