DPJ to decide justice minister's fate over gaffes soon: Okada+

SENDAI, Nov. 20 Kyodo -
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan will decide the fate of the justice
minister who is under growing pressure to quit over some recent ill-received
comments possibly over the weekend, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said
Saturday.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku early
Saturday evening for about 90 minutes apparently to discuss the issue, as even
his party colleagues think it is increasingly difficult to keep Justice
Minister Minoru Yanagida in his post after his remarks that are widely seen as
disrespectful of Diet deliberations.
Referring to the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party's plan to introduce a
censure motion against Yanagida on Monday, Okada told reporters in Sendai,
Miyagi Prefecture, ''Before it's submitted, we have to decide on some kind of a
policy, otherwise we can't deal with the matter.''
Kan is considering how to handle the matter, including the idea of having him
resign after the end of the current Diet session through Dec. 3, political
sources said.
After his remarks triggered an outcry from opposition lawmakers, Yanagida once
hinted at his intention to call it quits to people around him, but has since
changed his mind due to persuasion by senior DPJ members and is now willing to
stay on, people knowledgeable of the matter said later in the day.
Last Sunday, Yanagida told supporters at his constituency in Hiroshima that a
justice minister needs to remember only two phrases to get by in answering
questions in parliament -- ''I refrain from making comments on a specific
issue,'' and, ''We're dealing with the matter based on laws and evidence.''
LDP policy chief Shigeru Ishiba said in an address Saturday in Sapporo, ''It
only makes sense if he resigns before a censure motion goes through'' the
opposition-controlled House of Councillors.
Unlike a no-confidence motion that binds the prime minister if it passes the
House of Representatives to either have the Cabinet resign en masse or dissolve
the lower house for a general election, a censure motion for the upper house
has no binding power but could still pressure the person censured into
resigning.
The DPJ leadership is concerned that Yanagida's resignation may encourage
opposition parties to submit a series of censure motions against other
ministers. It has also indicated it will not submit to the opposition calls for
Yanagida to quit unless the opposition agrees to an early passage of a fiscal
2010 extra budget.
Okada also said in Sendai that the ruling bloc could seek extending the Diet
session to ensure passage of the supplementary budget, if the opposition camp
boycotts deliberations in connection with Yanagida's fate.
''We've been discussing the matter of the justice minister, but we haven't come
up with any conclusion,'' he said, while also saying, ''It becomes necessary to
extend the session to pass the budget if they (opposition lawmakers) come not
to attend deliberations.''
==Kyodo
2010-11-20 23:46:31


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