Japan PM eyes July election

JAPAN: Japan’s main Opposition Party submitted a symbolic no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s Cabinet Wednesday as Kan looked set to rush into a national election to capitalise on a jump in ratings.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s (DPJ) support rates have bounced since Kan took over from his unpopular predecessor Yukio Hatoyama last week, improving the party’s chances in a likely July 11 vote for Parliament’s upper house.

The DPJ will stay in power regardless of the election outcome given its majority in the lower house, but the party needs to win in the upper chamber to forge ahead smoothly with policies to cut the country’s huge public debt. Lambasting the DPJ for not extending the current session of Parliament after the abrupt leadership change, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) handed in a motion of no-confidence against the cabinet on the last day of debate.

But the move was largely symbolic, since opposition parties are outnumbered by the ruling bloc in the powerful lower chamber. Opposition parties also submitted non-binding censure motions against Kan and a cabinet minister to the upper house.

“If debate took place, their (the Democrats’) support rate would fall,” Jiro Kawasaki, an LDP executive in charge of parliamentary affairs, told reporters.

“Prime Minister Kan is clearly running away.”

Kan, Japan’s fifth premier in three years, has rejected calls for an extended parliament session, listening instead to DPJ lawmakers who want an election as soon as possible.

Media polls show support for Kan’s cabinet at around 60 percent, a jump from around 20 percent during Hatoyama’s final days in office. TOKYO, Wednesday, Reuters