Hatoyama says he will stay in office despite indictment of ex-aides+

TOKYO, Dec. 24 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama apologized Thursday over the falsification of his
political fund reports that led to indictments for two of his former
secretaries, but said he has no plans to step down.
Hatoyama, who was exempted from indictment, denied having any knowledge of the
large sum of money that had been provided by his mother and falsely recorded as
donations from his supporters in funds reports by one of his former
secretaries.
''I have regarded the prosecution's decision seriously and felt acutely aware
of my responsibilities,'' Hatoyama said at a hastily called news conference,
which ran for a little over an hour in the evening. ''I offer my deepest
apologies to all the people in the nation.''
The prime minister promised to pay gift taxes immediately for the 1.26 billion
yen he said was received without declaration from his mother from 2002, with
the amount of the tax payment expected to exceed 600 million yen.
''People say there is no way I could not have known about my parent providing
funds, but I really and absolutely did not know about it,'' Hatoyama said,
adding that he never tried to enrich himself or make profits with the funds.
Hatoyama, who wore a dark suit and his signature gold stripe tie, held the news
conference at a Tokyo hotel, not at the prime minister's office as he normally
would. ''This concerns a problem for a politician, Yukio Hatoyama, a Diet
member,'' not for a prime minister, he said.
Hatoyama stressed that he has no intention of resigning as prime minister, a
post he assumed three months ago as a result of his Democratic Party of Japan's
landslide victory in an August general election.
''If I talk about resigning because of this, it will mean abandoning my
responsibilities to the people who made the courageous choice for a change of
power and have expectations of and supported the implementation of policies by
the DPJ and my government,'' he said.
But if people remain unconvinced by his explanations and their calls for his
resignation become overwhelming, Hatoyama said, ''I will have to respect their
voices, but I will have to try not to let that happen.''
The latest move dealt a blow to Hatoyama and his 100-day-old government at a
time when opposition leaders have been growing more critical of what they see
as his failure to exercise leadership over key issues, including the relocation
of a U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture.
The opposition is almost certain to step up its attacks on his government,
especially at the regular parliamentary session expected to begin next month,
clouding the prospects for his legislative drive during the upcoming session.
On his failure to supervise his political funds, Hatoyama said he has taken
such criticism to heart. ''I had left everything up to (his former secretary)
without worrying about having to make do with funds,'' he said.
Hatoyama also admitted the negative impact that Thursday's indictments could
have on his party's chances in the House of Councillors election next summer,
but said, ''I will make maximum efforts to erase any impact by the time of the
election.''
Hatoyama's DPJ, which won nearly two-thirds of the seats in the House of
Representatives in the general election, is aiming to capture a majority in the
upper house, where it currently has an overall majority only with the help of
its two junior coalition partners.
==Kyodo