TOKYO, March 26 (Xinhua) — Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said at a press conference on Friday that he has no intention of making any significant changes to his Cabinet, or the leadership of his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), maintaining that he himself has no plans to step down as prime minister, ahead of the House of Councilors elections this summer.
The prime minister although acknowledging a slump in public support, with polls revealing the support rating for his Cabinet has dropped to the 30 percent range from over 70 percent shortly after the DPJ swept to power last September, said he was not thinking about stepping down.
\”I understand it to be a situation I should take seriously, but I don\’t take the position that I should just quit,\” Hatoyama said with reference to the growing lack of public support, adding, \”I\’m not thinking about resignation.\”
Hatoyama, who also doubles-up as DPJ president, also quashed any possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle and DPJ leadership change, saying that any changes now would be untimely.
The prime minister conceded that he himself as well as other DPJ lawmakers such as Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa, who have both been implicated in political funds scandals, should adequately explain themselves to the public and admitted that he is \”well aware\” that the public is angry.
\”We\’ll have to pave the way for a solution to this kind of problem appropriately,\” said Hatoyama restating his wish to legally ban political donations from corporations and organizations.
Having successfully passed a record 92.3 trillion yen (995.54 billion U.S. dollars) budget for the new fiscal year from April 1, Hatoyama is keen to enact key remaining pieces of legislation including the child allowance and senior high school tuition waiver bills, by March 31, the end of the current fiscal year, in hope of bolstering public support by making good on his \”People\’s Lives First\” election campaign slogan last summer.
Opposition parties however are expected to intensify their \” politics and money\” campaign against the DPJ-led ruling bloc, regardless of the passage of new bills, as their core bone of contention with the ruling coalition remains the funding scandals.
However the Liberal Democratic Party has indicated that it will demand Hatoyama\’s resignation should he not be able to successfully resolve the thorny issue of where to relocate the U.S. Marines\’ Futemma Air Station in Okinawa.
Hatoyama has a self-imposed end-of-May deadline to resolve the issue which took a new turn on Friday as Japan\’s Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima that the possibility of Japan sticking to an existing accord with Washington to relocate the facility within Okinawa would be close to impossible.
http://www.gtrip.net
TOKYO, March 26 (Xinhua) — Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said at a press conference on Friday that he has no intention of making any significant changes to his Cabinet, or the leadership of his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), maintaining that he himself has no plans to step down as prime minister, ahead of the House of Councilors elections this summer.
The prime minister although acknowledging a slump in public support, with polls revealing the support rating for his Cabinet has dropped to the 30 percent range from over 70 percent shortly after the DPJ swept to power last September, said he was not thinking about stepping down.
\”I understand it to be a situation I should take seriously, but I don\’t take the position that I should just quit,\” Hatoyama said with reference to the growing lack of public support, adding, \”I\’m not thinking about resignation.\”
Hatoyama, who also doubles-up as DPJ president, also quashed any possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle and DPJ leadership change, saying that any changes now would be untimely.
The prime minister conceded that he himself as well as other DPJ lawmakers such as Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa, who have both been implicated in political funds scandals, should adequately explain themselves to the public and admitted that he is \”well aware\” that the public is angry.
\”We\’ll have to pave the way for a solution to this kind of problem appropriately,\” said Hatoyama restating his wish to legally ban political donations from corporations and organizations.
Having successfully passed a record 92.3 trillion yen (995.54 billion U.S. dollars) budget for the new fiscal year from April 1, Hatoyama is keen to enact key remaining pieces of legislation including the child allowance and senior high school tuition waiver bills, by March 31, the end of the current fiscal year, in hope of bolstering public support by making good on his \”People\’s Lives First\” election campaign slogan last summer.
Opposition parties however are expected to intensify their \” politics and money\” campaign against the DPJ-led ruling bloc, regardless of the passage of new bills, as their core bone of contention with the ruling coalition remains the funding scandals.
However the Liberal Democratic Party has indicated that it will demand Hatoyama\’s resignation should he not be able to successfully resolve the thorny issue of where to relocate the U.S. Marines\’ Futemma Air Station in Okinawa.
Hatoyama has a self-imposed end-of-May deadline to resolve the issue which took a new turn on Friday as Japan\’s Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima that the possibility of Japan sticking to an existing accord with Washington to relocate the facility within Okinawa would be close to impossible.
http://www.gtrip.net
