ID :
185985
Thu, 06/02/2011 - 07:28
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/185985
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DPJ Ozawa to Vote for Motion against Kan Cabinet
Tokyo, June 1 (Jiji Press)--Former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa is likely to vote for an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet at a House of Representatives plenary meeting on Thursday afternoon, DPJ sources said Wednesday.
Many DPJ lawmakers close to Ozawa are expected to follow him, further undermining the already-weak foundations of the Kan cabinet even if the motion is voted down.
The leadership team of the ruling party forecasts that 40 to 60 DPJ lawmakers may vote for the motion or abstain. The team is stepping up efforts to cut into the anti-Kan camp.
On Wednesday, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and two other opposition parties--New Komeito and the Sunrise Party of Japan--jointly submitted the motion against the cabinet to the Lower House.
Thursday's Lower House plenary meeting for voting on the motion is slated to begin at 1 p.m. (4 a.m. GMT). The results are expected to be available around 3 p.m.
The voting comes at a time when Japan is striving to rebuild the Tohoku northeastern region devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and to bring under control the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant heavily damaged by the disaster.
At a meeting with former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata, a DPJ member, on Wednesday, Ozawa said that he would vote for the motion and asked Hata to vote the same way.
Among pro-Ozawa DPJ members, Senior Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Katsumasa Suzuki, as well as two other senior vice ministers and two parliament secretaries, tendered their resignations from the government posts on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, the five Lower House lawmakers said they would vote for the no-confidence motion although they do not plan to leave the DPJ.
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who on Tuesday urged Kan to quit voluntarily, is expected to vote for the motion, according to one lawmaker close to him. Hatoyama is a close ally of Ozawa.
DPJ members who support former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and current Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda are set to vote against the motion. So are party members originally from the defunct Democratic Socialist Party.
The DPJ leadership team and the anti-Kan camp are trying to win over party members who have yet to decide on their voting actions.
LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki and New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi held a meeting before the submission of the no-confidence motion and called for broad-based support for the measure.
Besides the three cosponsor parties, Your Party will also vote for the motion, while the Social Democratic Party's six Lower House members will abstain. LDP lawmaker Takeshi Iwaya decided to vote for the motion, reversing his earlier plan to abstain.
The Japanese Communist Party, which has nine Lower House seats, earlier planned to vote for the motion.
But the party has now decided to abstain from voting because Tanigaki told other opposition leaders he has no clear vision yet about the management of the government after the Kan cabinet resigns possibly in case the motion is passed.
The no-confidence motion criticizes the Kan government's inconsistent responses to the March natural disaster and the nuclear crisis.
Kan critically lacks the qualifications or ability to run a government, the motion said.
Tanigaki and Yamaguchi urged Kan to quit voluntarily during a Diet debate between Kan, head of the DPJ, and opposition party leaders on Wednesday. Kan rejected their advice. The debate preceded the submission of the motion.
Lower House Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi will not participate in Thursday's voting. Excluding him and the 15 SDP and JCP lawmakers who are set to abstain, 232 votes will give a majority because one of the 480 Lower House seat is vacant.
The motion would be passed if four independents allied with the DPJ-led ruling coalition and 78 DPJ members vote in its favor on condition that all 150 lawmakers in the opposition camp, excluding the SDP and JCP members, support it.
But the winning post will depend on the number of Lower House members who do not take part in the voting.
Many DPJ lawmakers close to Ozawa are expected to follow him, further undermining the already-weak foundations of the Kan cabinet even if the motion is voted down.
The leadership team of the ruling party forecasts that 40 to 60 DPJ lawmakers may vote for the motion or abstain. The team is stepping up efforts to cut into the anti-Kan camp.
On Wednesday, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and two other opposition parties--New Komeito and the Sunrise Party of Japan--jointly submitted the motion against the cabinet to the Lower House.
Thursday's Lower House plenary meeting for voting on the motion is slated to begin at 1 p.m. (4 a.m. GMT). The results are expected to be available around 3 p.m.
The voting comes at a time when Japan is striving to rebuild the Tohoku northeastern region devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and to bring under control the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant heavily damaged by the disaster.
At a meeting with former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata, a DPJ member, on Wednesday, Ozawa said that he would vote for the motion and asked Hata to vote the same way.
Among pro-Ozawa DPJ members, Senior Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Katsumasa Suzuki, as well as two other senior vice ministers and two parliament secretaries, tendered their resignations from the government posts on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, the five Lower House lawmakers said they would vote for the no-confidence motion although they do not plan to leave the DPJ.
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who on Tuesday urged Kan to quit voluntarily, is expected to vote for the motion, according to one lawmaker close to him. Hatoyama is a close ally of Ozawa.
DPJ members who support former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and current Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda are set to vote against the motion. So are party members originally from the defunct Democratic Socialist Party.
The DPJ leadership team and the anti-Kan camp are trying to win over party members who have yet to decide on their voting actions.
LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki and New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi held a meeting before the submission of the no-confidence motion and called for broad-based support for the measure.
Besides the three cosponsor parties, Your Party will also vote for the motion, while the Social Democratic Party's six Lower House members will abstain. LDP lawmaker Takeshi Iwaya decided to vote for the motion, reversing his earlier plan to abstain.
The Japanese Communist Party, which has nine Lower House seats, earlier planned to vote for the motion.
But the party has now decided to abstain from voting because Tanigaki told other opposition leaders he has no clear vision yet about the management of the government after the Kan cabinet resigns possibly in case the motion is passed.
The no-confidence motion criticizes the Kan government's inconsistent responses to the March natural disaster and the nuclear crisis.
Kan critically lacks the qualifications or ability to run a government, the motion said.
Tanigaki and Yamaguchi urged Kan to quit voluntarily during a Diet debate between Kan, head of the DPJ, and opposition party leaders on Wednesday. Kan rejected their advice. The debate preceded the submission of the motion.
Lower House Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi will not participate in Thursday's voting. Excluding him and the 15 SDP and JCP lawmakers who are set to abstain, 232 votes will give a majority because one of the 480 Lower House seat is vacant.
The motion would be passed if four independents allied with the DPJ-led ruling coalition and 78 DPJ members vote in its favor on condition that all 150 lawmakers in the opposition camp, excluding the SDP and JCP members, support it.
But the winning post will depend on the number of Lower House members who do not take part in the voting.
