TOKYO (Reuters) – A key Japanese cabinet minister added his voice on Monday to calls for a coalition between ruling and opposition parties to break the deadlock of a divided parliament, but the outlook for such a tie-up under the country's next leader remains murky.
Unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan has signaled he is ready to resign in the coming weeks, a step which could clear the way for better relations with the opposition parties who control parliament's upper house, and can block legislation.
"It (a 'grand coalition') is desirable, but it is not easy," National Strategy Minister Koichiro Gemba was quoted by Japanese news agencies as telling a news conference.
"The question of who can cooperate with the opposition will be a focus of the (ruling) Democratic Party of Japan leadership election," Kyodo news agency quoted Gemba, who is also the party's policy chief, as saying.
Gemba's comments echo weekend remarks by Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, a fiscal conservative who is considered the front runner to replace Kan in a ruling party leadership election that could be held as early as August 28.
Noda said on Saturday he envisages forming a grand coalition with the leading opposition parties were he to become the next prime minister.
Whoever it is, the next prime minister faces a juggling act of mending the country's finances -- Japan's public debt is twice the size of its $5 trillion GDP -- while tackling the expensive task of rebuilding areas devastated by the quake and tsunami, which may involve unpopular tax hikes.
Japan's economy shrank much less than expected in the second quarter as companies made strides in restoring output after the March disaster, but a soaring yen and slowing global growth cloud the prospects for a sustained recovery.
Forming a coalition is an inviting option for Japan's next leader, whose past five predecessors -- none of whom lasted a long time in the job -- were hamstrung by the ruling party's need for opposition support to pass laws.
But some inside Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) are cool to the idea, while there is no guarantee that the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its former partner, the New Komeito party, would agree to join the government.
Another contender to replace Kan, former Transport Minister Sumio Mabuchi, said over the weekend he would not rule out a grand coalition if he won the top post, but questioned how practical the notion was.
"It certainly would help Japan if the Diet (parliament) could start working together to solve problems, but there are lots of obstacles to full cooperation," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asia studies at Temple University's Japan campus.
"I don't think that a grand coalition will be very easy to cobble together," he said, adding that many in the LDP were keen for an early general election given that opinion polls show more voters would favor the opposition.
LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki has repeatedly said that a grand coalition would be "very, very exceptional," although he has also said the party is ready to cooperate to help with reconstruction from the devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
(Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿