USD 1.7

Baku 23 °C

Paid news

AZ RU EN FA FR

Dark mode

POLITICS

NEWS

World

Economics

Sport

Culture news

Analysis

Blogs

Company

TOP 10

© 2004 - 2026 All copyright are reserved.

Asia

Home page

Asia

Japan opposition nixes deal for PM to quit: report

18 February 2011 19:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Japan’s second-biggest opposition party has rejected a deal proposed by the ruling party in which unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan would quit in return for help in securing passage of a workable budget, a newspaper said on Friday, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
Speculation that Kan would have to quit or call a snap general election intensified this week after 16 critics of his push for tax reforms to curb Japan’s public debt said they wanted to leave the party’s lower house caucus.
Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) can win parliamentary approval for the $1 trillion budget for the year from April 1 because it controls the lower house.
But to pass enabling bills, it must either win over enough opposition votes to gain a simple majority in the opposition-controlled upper house or to secure a two-thirds lower house majority in order to override the upper chamber.
"He has the responsibility to move forward issues that the public has imposed on him within the term as a prime minister as defined by the constitution, and the term as the DPJ’s leader," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.
"We all agree that we will fulfill that responsibility."
A senior executive in the DPJ who is an ally of Kan offered the deal this week to an executive in the New Komeito, the second-biggest opposition party, the Asahi newspaper reported. It cited no source.
Votes of the New Komeito, together with those of the ruling bloc, would be enough to clear the upper house.
Kan said he did not support the idea of such a deal but offered no clue on how he hoped to break the deadlock.
I want to deal with the matter while thinking about what is most important and necessary for the people, he told reporters.
Kan took office last June and has been pushing ahead with tax reform, including raising the 5 percent sales tax as well as trade liberalization to tap overseas markets for growth. Asahi said he was determined to stay on as premier.
The departure of the 16 parliamentarians -- who left open the possibility that they would not support the budget-related bills -- cast doubt on hopes the premier could obtain a two-thirds lower house majority.
PARTY DIVISIONS
Kan’s sliding ratings are making opposition parties reluctant to help. And he must deal with a growing division in his party over various issues.
These include how -- or whether -- to reprimand party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, long seen as the force behind the DPJ’s 2009 electoral success but now tainted by a funding scandal.
Support for Kan’s government hit a fresh low at 17.8 percent in a media poll released on Thursday, a level that has prompted some previous premiers to quit.
Kan is already Japan’s fifth prime minister since 2006 when Junichiro Koizumi finished a five-year stint.

Dark mode

POLITICS

NEWS

World

Economics

Sport

Culture news

Analysis

Blogs

Company

TOP 10

© 2004 - 2026 All copyright are reserved.

Asia

Japan opposition nixes deal for PM to quit: report

Asia

Israel announces destruction of Hezbollah underground facility in southern Lebanon

Axios: U.S., Iran agree to ceasefire, Doha talks on Strait of Hormuz

Türkiye says Israel using 1915 events decision to cover up crimes against Palestinians

Qatari citizen died from shrapnel wounds on board ship

NEWS FEED

ATTENTION!

ATTENTION!

ATTENTION!