Japan PM set to keep job ahead of tough election
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso looks set to keep his job and hold an election next month after efforts to force a ruling party meeting that could have pushed him to quit were blocked by party heavyweights.
Aso sparked chaos in the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) party when he announced plans for an August 30 general election on Monday, just a day after the party was trounced by the rival Democratic Party in a Tokyo assembly election.
Polls show the LDP will likely lose the general election, ending more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the business-friendly party and improving chances of resolving a policy deadlock caused by a divided parliament. The opposition controls the upper house and can delay bills.
The LDP's fading fortunes have fueled moves to oust Aso before the election, with a handful of LDP rebels presenting a petition for a formal meeting of parliamentarians to press their views.
But their plans were complicated after some lawmakers whose names were on the petition later said they had never signed, while others said they would retract their signatures if the gathering was used to ditch Aso.
The party has decided to hold a less formal meeting instead on Tuesday, Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said. The meeting would be closed to media and lack the authority to revise party rules enabling a change in party leadership.
"The title of the meeting aside, I'm pleased that the party will take such an important process where the party leader and lawmakers exchange their opinions before the LDP heads for election," Yosano told a news conference.
POLICY DEBATE
Yosano -- who has distanced himself from Aso in the past week despite being his right-hand man on the economy -- was unclear on whether he would sign off on the dissolution of the lower house set for Tuesday.
Aso, however, could fire cabinet members who rebel and go ahead with the move without their support. Yosano's exit would be a blow to Aso but not have a major impact on policies, with the economy coming out of a recession and parliament heading into a break.
While many lawmakers in the LDP are frustrated with Aso, they note that Japan has had four leaders in as many years and voters may be put off by yet another leadership change. Aso's two predecessors quit abruptly after a year in office.
Popular Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe is considered a potential alternative to Aso, but many analysts are skeptical he can single-handedly reverse the LDP's grim prospects ahead of the election.
Some LDP lawmakers have said the party should put its squabbles to rest and focus on hammering out its campaign pledges to counter the Democrats.
The Democratic Party's secretary-general, Katsuya Okada, said that he too was eager to move on to debating policies. The party has handed out a handbook to candidates on how to explain its policies to voters, including possible questions they could face.
Analysts have said the Democrats' large spending plans could inflate public debt and push up government bond yields, although the party argues it can secure funds by cutting wasteful projects and tapping special reserves.
"Some people are optimistic but there is still a lot of time before the election and there's no knowing what will happen," Okada told a news conference.
"We want to call on our candidates to promote our policies sincerely and seriously to the public."
(Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Isabel Reynolds and Linda Sieg; Editing by Alex Richardson)
