ID :
166346
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 17:29
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https://www.oananews.org//node/166346
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Edano to temporarily double as Japan's foreign minister
TOKYO, March 7 Kyodo - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano will temporarily double as Japan's foreign minister, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Monday, a day after Seiji Maehara announced his resignation to take the blame for having accepted donations from a foreigner.
Nevertheless, Kan told a parliamentary session that ''foreign policy is extremely important'' and that he would try to pick Maehara's official successor as soon as possible.
''I am now considering very carefully putting the right person in the right place,'' Kan told reporters in the evening, without going into details about when he will try to settle personnel affairs following the key Cabinet member's resignation.
Edano, the top government spokesman, told a news conference he expects Kan will choose a new foreign minister ''very soon,'' hinting that a replacement would be appointed at least before the Group of Eight foreign ministerial talks start on March 14 in Paris.
State Foreign Secretary Takeaki Matsumoto and former trade minister Masayuki Naoshima are some of the names that have been floated by DPJ lawmakers as possible successors to Maehara.
People close to Kan have also said the government should not rule out the possibility of having DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada serve again as foreign minister, adding that someone will likely be named to the post in any case within the next couple of days.
Speaking at the House of Councillors Budget Committee, Kan, already Japan's fifth prime minister since 2006 said, ''I strongly tried to persuade Mr. Maehara not to resign, but unfortunately I could not, as he insisted on taking political responsibility by quitting even if there are no legal problems.''
Maehara's departure comes at a time when Kan himself is facing pressure within and outside his Democratic Party of Japan to quit or call a general election, while struggling in a divided parliament to pass key bills necessary to implement the budget for fiscal 2011 in time for its start on April 1.
Maehara said Sunday he had unknowingly accepted a total of 250,000 yen in political donations from a long-time South Korean resident in Kyoto since 2005.
The Political Funds Control Law bans contributions from foreign individuals to prevent domestic politics from being influenced by foreign countries.
Maehara, who was foreign minister since September, had been tipped as a leading candidate to succeed Kan should he succumb to growing pressure from opposition lawmakers, who control the upper house, as well as some members of his own ruling party.
Maehara, one of the few foreign policy experts in the DPJ, is known as having close ties with the United States. But his aggressive comments on territorial issues have sometimes escalated tensions with Russia and China.
The Liberal Democratic Party and other opposition parties are stepping up their offensive against the government, saying Kan is fully responsible for Maehara's appointment.
LDP Diet affairs chief Ichiro Aisawa told a meeting with other parties the full picture of Maehara's ''illegal donations'' has yet to become clear.
Aisawa and other senior officials of the main opposition party called on Kan to dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election.
But Kan reiterated that he will perform his duties as leader of Japan, though acknowledging that he bears responsibility for any appointment of Cabinet members.
In addition to the Maehara issue, the opposition camp is calling for health minister Ritsuo Hosokawa to step down over inappropriate measures to assist housewives who had failed to pay their pension premiums in full.
Edano dismissed the opposition attacks, saying Maehara's case has not caused any legal problem and that his resignation was decided on in view of his status as foreign minister and Diet deliberations in the weeks ahead.
The controversy involving Maehara emerged last Friday during a session of the budget committee, in which LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida said he had received political donations from a supporter whose nationality is not Japanese.
The contributor was a 72-year-old South Korean woman who is a permanent resident and runs a barbecue restaurant in the city of Kyoto, where Maehara's constituency is located.
Maehara admitted he had received at least 50,000 yen from her in the session, telling reporters later that the woman was an old acquaintance and that he did not know about the donation.
In addition to the G-8 meeting, trilateral foreign ministerial talks with China and South Korea are slated for March 19 in Kyoto.
The post of chief Cabinet secretary, held now by Edano, is responsible for the country's crisis management and the job normally does not allow travel, even outside the Tokyo area.
Nevertheless, Kan told a parliamentary session that ''foreign policy is extremely important'' and that he would try to pick Maehara's official successor as soon as possible.
''I am now considering very carefully putting the right person in the right place,'' Kan told reporters in the evening, without going into details about when he will try to settle personnel affairs following the key Cabinet member's resignation.
Edano, the top government spokesman, told a news conference he expects Kan will choose a new foreign minister ''very soon,'' hinting that a replacement would be appointed at least before the Group of Eight foreign ministerial talks start on March 14 in Paris.
State Foreign Secretary Takeaki Matsumoto and former trade minister Masayuki Naoshima are some of the names that have been floated by DPJ lawmakers as possible successors to Maehara.
People close to Kan have also said the government should not rule out the possibility of having DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada serve again as foreign minister, adding that someone will likely be named to the post in any case within the next couple of days.
Speaking at the House of Councillors Budget Committee, Kan, already Japan's fifth prime minister since 2006 said, ''I strongly tried to persuade Mr. Maehara not to resign, but unfortunately I could not, as he insisted on taking political responsibility by quitting even if there are no legal problems.''
Maehara's departure comes at a time when Kan himself is facing pressure within and outside his Democratic Party of Japan to quit or call a general election, while struggling in a divided parliament to pass key bills necessary to implement the budget for fiscal 2011 in time for its start on April 1.
Maehara said Sunday he had unknowingly accepted a total of 250,000 yen in political donations from a long-time South Korean resident in Kyoto since 2005.
The Political Funds Control Law bans contributions from foreign individuals to prevent domestic politics from being influenced by foreign countries.
Maehara, who was foreign minister since September, had been tipped as a leading candidate to succeed Kan should he succumb to growing pressure from opposition lawmakers, who control the upper house, as well as some members of his own ruling party.
Maehara, one of the few foreign policy experts in the DPJ, is known as having close ties with the United States. But his aggressive comments on territorial issues have sometimes escalated tensions with Russia and China.
The Liberal Democratic Party and other opposition parties are stepping up their offensive against the government, saying Kan is fully responsible for Maehara's appointment.
LDP Diet affairs chief Ichiro Aisawa told a meeting with other parties the full picture of Maehara's ''illegal donations'' has yet to become clear.
Aisawa and other senior officials of the main opposition party called on Kan to dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election.
But Kan reiterated that he will perform his duties as leader of Japan, though acknowledging that he bears responsibility for any appointment of Cabinet members.
In addition to the Maehara issue, the opposition camp is calling for health minister Ritsuo Hosokawa to step down over inappropriate measures to assist housewives who had failed to pay their pension premiums in full.
Edano dismissed the opposition attacks, saying Maehara's case has not caused any legal problem and that his resignation was decided on in view of his status as foreign minister and Diet deliberations in the weeks ahead.
The controversy involving Maehara emerged last Friday during a session of the budget committee, in which LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida said he had received political donations from a supporter whose nationality is not Japanese.
The contributor was a 72-year-old South Korean woman who is a permanent resident and runs a barbecue restaurant in the city of Kyoto, where Maehara's constituency is located.
Maehara admitted he had received at least 50,000 yen from her in the session, telling reporters later that the woman was an old acquaintance and that he did not know about the donation.
In addition to the G-8 meeting, trilateral foreign ministerial talks with China and South Korea are slated for March 19 in Kyoto.
The post of chief Cabinet secretary, held now by Edano, is responsible for the country's crisis management and the job normally does not allow travel, even outside the Tokyo area.
