ID :
79229
Thu, 09/10/2009 - 09:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/79229
The shortlink copeid
DPJ, 2 allies agree on coalition, work out security differences+
TOKYO, Sept. 9 Kyodo - The Democratic Party of Japan and two minor parties signed an agreement Wednesday to launch a coalition government next week as they worked through their differences on national security issues, reaching a basic agreement on the controversial issue of the status of U.S. forces in Japan.
The coalition government of the DPJ, the Social Democratic Party and the
People's New Party is set to be launched after DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama is
voted in as prime minister at a special parliamentary session on Sept. 16.
It would be the first government to be led by a party other than the Liberal
Democratic Party in the past 16 years. The LDP has governed Japan since 1955
except for a period of about 11 months from 1993 to 1994.
''We were able to form a coalition that can work to lead the public's lives in
the right direction,'' Hatoyama said at a press conference after a leaders'
meeting in the evening. ''We will make all-out efforts to respond to the public
mandate.''
With only one week left before the launch of the Cabinet, Hatoyama told
reporters later that he will start deciding on his full Cabinet lineup on
Thursday or thereafter.
Hatoyama said he asked SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima and PNP chief Shizuka Kamei
to join his Cabinet.
The PNP decided at its general meeting afterward that Kamei will join the
Cabinet, while an SDP official said late Wednesday night that Fukushima will
also accept Hatoyama's offer and join.
The DPJ won 308 seats in the 480-member House of Representatives in the Aug. 30
election, trouncing the long-dominant LDP, but still needs to join with the two
parties that hold the key swing votes in the House of Councillors.
In the area of foreign policy, the three parties agreed that the coalition
would ''propose the revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement and
move in the direction of reexamining the realignment of the U.S. military
forces in Japan and the role of U.S. military bases in Japan so as to reduce
the burden on Okinawa residents.''
The agreement is a reflection of a series of demands from the SDP, which
opposes the stationing of U.S. forces in Japan.
On individual problems, Fukushima said she believes that the DPJ and SDP
''share interests in most (issues)'' and her party would tackle them one by one
in the coalition government.
The three parties also pledged to build ''an autonomous foreign policy
strategy'' and a ''close and equal Japan-U.S. alliance.''
Concerning how to coordinate policy in a tripartite coalition, they agreed to
have a Cabinet committee handle the task, which will involve the chiefs or
other executives of the three parties.
The coalition will also aim to increase disposable income to help boost
consumption by implementing steps to support households, keep the sales tax at
the present level of 5 percent and review a series of postal privatization
steps.
The coalition talks hit a stumbling block Tuesday over national security
issues, as the DPJ was apparently cautious about adopting a tougher foreign
policy stance on the United States.
Hatoyama is expected to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama later this month.
But DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada, who has been unofficially picked as
foreign minister, denied that the agreement would affect the scheduled
Japan-U.S. talks, saying, ''Nothing new has been stipulated'' on top of what
the DPJ has already pledged in its manifesto for the lower house election.
The wording on the SOFA and the U.S. military redeployment is indeed exactly
the same as in its campaign platform except for the part ''to reduce the burden
on Okinawa residents.''
''I don't think it would be a problem at all,'' Hatoyama also said at the press
conference.
The DPJ has said it will pursue a more independent policy toward Washington
than the LDP-New Komeito party coalition, while Hatoyama said that U.S.
facilities should even be moved out of Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of the
U.S. forces in Japan.
But the party apparently wants to place priority on forging personal ties
between the two leaders in the upcoming bilateral talks, expected to be held on
the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York or the G-20 financial
summit in Pittsburgh.
In a telephone conversation with Obama last week, Hatoyama said the Japan-U.S.
alliance remains the ''foundation'' of Japanese foreign policy, in an apparent
bid to dispel concerns in Washington that the incoming government may change
the alliance.
In May 2006, Japan and the United States agreed to relocate the airfield
functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station to a less densely
populated area in another Okinawa city, Nago, as part of the realignment of
U.S. forces in Japan, but the plan met with a backlash from area residents.
Senior U.S. officials have said there is no room for the two countries to
review the relocation agreement between the two governments.
(Daisuke Yamamoto and Maya Kaneko contributed to this report)
==Kyodo
2009-09-09 23:42:34
The coalition government of the DPJ, the Social Democratic Party and the
People's New Party is set to be launched after DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama is
voted in as prime minister at a special parliamentary session on Sept. 16.
It would be the first government to be led by a party other than the Liberal
Democratic Party in the past 16 years. The LDP has governed Japan since 1955
except for a period of about 11 months from 1993 to 1994.
''We were able to form a coalition that can work to lead the public's lives in
the right direction,'' Hatoyama said at a press conference after a leaders'
meeting in the evening. ''We will make all-out efforts to respond to the public
mandate.''
With only one week left before the launch of the Cabinet, Hatoyama told
reporters later that he will start deciding on his full Cabinet lineup on
Thursday or thereafter.
Hatoyama said he asked SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima and PNP chief Shizuka Kamei
to join his Cabinet.
The PNP decided at its general meeting afterward that Kamei will join the
Cabinet, while an SDP official said late Wednesday night that Fukushima will
also accept Hatoyama's offer and join.
The DPJ won 308 seats in the 480-member House of Representatives in the Aug. 30
election, trouncing the long-dominant LDP, but still needs to join with the two
parties that hold the key swing votes in the House of Councillors.
In the area of foreign policy, the three parties agreed that the coalition
would ''propose the revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement and
move in the direction of reexamining the realignment of the U.S. military
forces in Japan and the role of U.S. military bases in Japan so as to reduce
the burden on Okinawa residents.''
The agreement is a reflection of a series of demands from the SDP, which
opposes the stationing of U.S. forces in Japan.
On individual problems, Fukushima said she believes that the DPJ and SDP
''share interests in most (issues)'' and her party would tackle them one by one
in the coalition government.
The three parties also pledged to build ''an autonomous foreign policy
strategy'' and a ''close and equal Japan-U.S. alliance.''
Concerning how to coordinate policy in a tripartite coalition, they agreed to
have a Cabinet committee handle the task, which will involve the chiefs or
other executives of the three parties.
The coalition will also aim to increase disposable income to help boost
consumption by implementing steps to support households, keep the sales tax at
the present level of 5 percent and review a series of postal privatization
steps.
The coalition talks hit a stumbling block Tuesday over national security
issues, as the DPJ was apparently cautious about adopting a tougher foreign
policy stance on the United States.
Hatoyama is expected to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama later this month.
But DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada, who has been unofficially picked as
foreign minister, denied that the agreement would affect the scheduled
Japan-U.S. talks, saying, ''Nothing new has been stipulated'' on top of what
the DPJ has already pledged in its manifesto for the lower house election.
The wording on the SOFA and the U.S. military redeployment is indeed exactly
the same as in its campaign platform except for the part ''to reduce the burden
on Okinawa residents.''
''I don't think it would be a problem at all,'' Hatoyama also said at the press
conference.
The DPJ has said it will pursue a more independent policy toward Washington
than the LDP-New Komeito party coalition, while Hatoyama said that U.S.
facilities should even be moved out of Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of the
U.S. forces in Japan.
But the party apparently wants to place priority on forging personal ties
between the two leaders in the upcoming bilateral talks, expected to be held on
the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York or the G-20 financial
summit in Pittsburgh.
In a telephone conversation with Obama last week, Hatoyama said the Japan-U.S.
alliance remains the ''foundation'' of Japanese foreign policy, in an apparent
bid to dispel concerns in Washington that the incoming government may change
the alliance.
In May 2006, Japan and the United States agreed to relocate the airfield
functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station to a less densely
populated area in another Okinawa city, Nago, as part of the realignment of
U.S. forces in Japan, but the plan met with a backlash from area residents.
Senior U.S. officials have said there is no room for the two countries to
review the relocation agreement between the two governments.
(Daisuke Yamamoto and Maya Kaneko contributed to this report)
==Kyodo
2009-09-09 23:42:34
