Unpopular Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori met yesterday with ruling party elders and expressed his intention to resign. He was expected to remain in office for about another month.
Liberal Democratic Party officials have not yet decided on who would replace Mori, who serves concurrently as party president and prime minister because of the party's dominant position in Parliament.
Mori was expected to stay in office until early April to give the ruling coalition time to select a replacement, pass the budget and to avoid confusion in an upcoming summit with US President George W. Bush.
Ruling party executives emerged from yesterday's meeting and used common Japanese euphemisms for stepping down.
"He said he wanted to push up the party presidential election from September," LDP Secretary-General Makoto Koga said. "He said he feels he is responsible as premier."
In Japanese politics, both an admission of "responsibility" and expressing a desire to hold early leadership elections amount to conveying an intention to resign.
The hard part for LDP cadres will now be to find a successor. So far there is no clear front-runner -- and even a dearth of volunteers.
The arduous search underscores the difficulties the LDP, which has been in power for most of the years since the end of World War II, has had to respond to the public's longing for fresh faces and more transparency in politics.
Mori was himself chosen behind closed doors after his predecessor, Keizo Obuchi, was felled by a stroke. The back-room dealing was the first misstep that sent his administration on the path of becoming one of the least popular in Japan's postwar history.
Analysts said the policy of secrecy will likely be costly in nationwide elections slated for July.
"This lack of transparency just makes the public think the LDP has gone from bad to worse," said Masumi Ishikawa, a political analyst at Tokyo's Obirin University. "There's no sense of trust in the party."
Speculation over when Mori would resign had been intensifying for weeks.
Mori took office last April and his tenure has since been marred by scandals and frequent verbal gaffes, including remarks similar to the jingoism of Japan's wartime leaders.
His public support ratings have plunged to the single-digit level, making him the second-most unpopular prime minister Japan has had since World War II.
He survived a no-confidence motion March 5, the second in five months, and opposition parties are considering whether to submit a censure motion against him next week. That was also not likely to pass, because the opposition lacks the votes.
Concerns over the political storm's effect on this country's nascent economic recovery have also been deepening. Highlighting the fears, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa told Parliament on Thursday that the nation's finances are "near collapse," sending ripples through the currency markets.
Mori's continuing unpopularity has made the ruling coalition nervous because elections for the upper house of Parliament are scheduled for July.
Despite the problems, the LDP appears unwilling to let him go just yet. By allowing Mori to stay in office through the end of next month, the party appeared to be buying time to settle on a successor.
Because they are the largest party in Parliament, the Liberal Democrats are able to decide who is installed as prime minister.
But the faction-ridden party appears to be bogged down in negotiations over who the replacement should be.
Staying in office through the end of the month would also allow Mori to see the budget through Parliament and to hold summits with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 25 and with US President George W. Bush around March 19.
The top contenders to succeed Mori appeared to be former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, former Health Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chikage Ogi, who heads the Conservative Party, the smallest of the three ruling coalition parties.
Though considered a long shot, Ogi would be Japan's first female prime minister if selected.
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