Japan prime minister faces pressure to resign over Okinawa

biomat

Minister (2k+ posts)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/01/japan-prime-minister-okinawa/print#skiplinks Yukio Hatoyama may step down before elections over Okinawa US airbase U-turn



  • Associated Press
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 June 2010 07.34 BST
  • icon_font.gif
    larger | smaller
  • Article history
Yukio-Hatoyama-001.jpg
Japan prime minister Yukio Hatoyama is facing pressure to resign ahead of elections over his broken promise to move a US air base off Okinawa. Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP Japan's embattled prime minister faced growing pressure today from within his party to resign ahead of elections next month over his broken campaign promise to move a US marine base off the island of Okinawa.
Yukio Hatoyama's approval ratings have plummeted as he backtracked on a promise to move Marine Air Station Futenma off the southern island, reinforcing his public image as an indecisive leader after only eight months in office.
Many analysts say he may step down before upper house elections, likely to be held in mid-July – or perhaps after the elections if his party, the Democratic Party of Japan, does poorly. If he does resign soon, he would be the fourth Japanese prime minister to do so in four years.
Hatoyama has said he will stay on, but his comments today seemed less forceful.
"We will stand up against this national crisis," he said, apparently referring to the difficult situation facing the government. Hatoyama said they would do "what's best" for the Japanese people
He said he would meet senior party members later today to discuss political management ahead of elections, and major Japanese newspapers speculated that those gathered would debate whether – or when – Hatoyama might resign.
His government came to power amid high hopes last September after the DPJ soundly defeated the long-ruling conservatives in lower house elections.
But his public image has suffered amid a political funding scandal and perceived indecision, particularly on his reversal on Futenma. He now says he will go along with the 2006 agreement to move the base to a northern part of the island, infuriating residents who want it off Okinawa entirely.
Okinawa houses more than half the 47,000 US troops in Japan, stationed under a bilateral security alliance.
Hatoyama's three-way coalition was cut to two members over the weekend when a junior partner, the Social Democrats, withdrew after the prime minister expelled its leader Mizuho Fukushima, who rejected the Futenma decision, from the cabinet.
The DPJ and a remaining coalition partner still hold a majority in both houses of the Diet, or parliament – though just barely in the less powerful upper house.
Fukushima's dismissal enhanced her public standing as a politician who stood up for her convictions and reinforced perceptions of Hatoyama as weak.
The largest Japanese newspaper, the Yomiuri, citing its own survey conducted yesterday, said nine out of 43 upper house MPs from Hatoyama's party seeking re-election in July said Hatoyama's resignation ahead of the poll was unavoidable, while 13 others urged him to make his own decision.
But some cabinet ministers defended Hatoyama.
Finance minister Naoto Kan, a man some have speculated might become the next prime minister, said he has supported Hatoyama's leadership and "that has not changed".
Transport minister Seiji Maehara said he was against frequent leadership change even though Hatoyama should take responsibility for his recent political bungling by staying on to do a better job.
Public support for the current government has slid to 17%, down four percentage points from a previous poll two weeks ago, according to the latest survey by the daily Asahi, published yesterday. Disapproval rating jumped to 70% from 64%.
In a weekend telephone survey of 1,033 voter households, the Kyodo News agency found that more than half said Hatoyama should step down, while 44% disagreed. Kyodo did not give a margin of error, but a poll of that size would normally have a five percentage point sampling error.