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Japan's opposition vows to battle prime minister

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda watches opposition Democratic Party of Japan Secretary-General Yukio Hatoyama speak in Tokyo yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Japan's opposition went on the offensive yesterday, pledging to push for an early election and spelling stalemate for the divided parliament's new session.

The opposition pledged to fight the agenda of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who opened the 150-day parliament session on Friday with promises of action on fighting global warming and other issues.

"Nothing will change if this government continues to exist," said Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, as he took the stand in parliament.

"In order for Japan to regain its vitality, we must launch an administration run by the Democratic Party of Japan," he said.

The opposition won control of one house of parliament in July elections, triggering such a deadlock that Fukuda resorted to nearly unprecedented parliamentary measures to restart a naval mission supporting US-led forces in Afghanistan.

Fukuda has signaled that he hopes to avoid an early election at least before Japan hosts the Group of Eight industrial nations' summit in July.

But his government has faced a series of difficult domestic issues: Gross mismanagement of the pension system, corruption at the defense ministry and an uncertain economic outlook have all taken their toll in the last four months.

Fukuda, a 71-year-old political veteran who took over as prime minister in September when his beleaguered predecessor Shinzo Abe abruptly quit, reiterated his call to the opposition to find a common ground.

"In order to carry out policies on behalf of the Japanese people, I believe that through discussions we can develop a relationship of trust to search for areas on which we can agree," Fukuda said in response to Hatoyama.

"I believe it is important in a democracy to ask for a public mandate by calling for elections," he said. "But such actions must not negatively affect the livelihood of the public."

"I think, rather than dissolving the parliament, it is better to engage in a frank exchanges of views," Fukuda said.

Fukuda's conservative Liberal Democratic Party has been in power for all but 10 months since its founding in 1955.
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