Gov't to shun wasteful spending to cover 180 bil. yen tax shortage

Apr 30 09:19 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The government pledged Wednesday to chop wasteful spending for road building projects to cover tax revenue shortfalls worth an estimated 180 billion yen resulting from the loss of gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges for one month.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said at a press conference, "We should not waste even one yen of the people's tax money. We have decided to immediately stop inappropriate spending of road-related taxes and introduce competitive bidding."

Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga told a separate news conference that he expects the infrastructure ministry will "eliminate wasteful use of tax money and use financial resources efficiently" in implementing the nation's road construction plans.

Nukaga denied the possibility that the government will issue deficit- covering bonds right away to deal with the revenue shortage.

"We will consider that matter by examining the situation of tax revenues and the degree of budget implementation," he said.

The exact amount of lost road-related tax revenues will become clear around July, the finance minister said.

The road-related tax surcharges, comprising state and local levies on items such as gasoline and automobiles, were imposed in the 1970s on a provisional basis to expedite road development projects across Japan.

The government and the ruling parties proposed a tax bill to the Diet in January to extend the surcharges beyond their expiration date of March 31 to continue funding road-related projects. They also said abolishing the surcharges would create annual shortfalls of as much as 2.6 trillion yen in tax revenues.

The bill failed to pass the Diet by the end of March due to a political row between the ruling and opposition parties, leading to the abolishment of the surcharges at the beginning of April.

A tax code bill to reinstate gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges passed the Diet earlier in the day, paving the way for the restoration Thursday of a 25-yen per liter gas tax surcharge. The move limited tax revenue shortfalls to one month.

U.S. forces in Japan to conduct health-related behavior survey in May

Apr 30 08:57 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The U.S. military will conduct a survey of health-related behaviors at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture from May 19 to 30 as part of the U.S. Department of Defense's annual survey on about 20,000 active-duty service members at over 60 military installations worldwide, a spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan said Wednesday.

Master Sgt. Terence Peck, media relations chief at the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, denied a Kyodo News report released earlier in the day that the U.S. Navy will start conducting a survey on the life attitude and mental state of its military and civilian personnel in May as part of the soldier management program that has been implemented by the U.S. military as a crime prevention measure following a spate of crimes including the murder of a taxi driver allegedly by a Navy seaman in March.

"The survey will assess service members' lifestyle behaviors and provide an opportunity to the Department of Defense and each service to improve programs and policies, and to strengthen military personnel healthy lifestyle knowledge and choices," the spokesman said.

The survey has no connection with the recent incidents of U.S. military personnel misconduct, he said.

The U.S. Navy in Japan is now implementing a program aimed at reemphasizing the "zero tolerance" policy against violence and providing newly arrived sailors and those who are already in Japan with anti-violence prevention information, education and training, he said.

"After analyzing the effectiveness of the program, the U.S. Navy in Japan will make a proposal to the commander of U.S. Forces Japan to implement it USFJ-wide as a program for anti-violence awareness," the spokesman said. "The U.S. Navy values its relationship with Japan and continues to urge its sailors to behave in a responsible fashion."

Gas tax surcharge to be reinstated Thurs. with lower house revote

Apr 30 08:06 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - TOKYO, April 30 (Kyodo) — A tax code bill to reinstate gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges passed the Diet on Wednesday, with the ruling parties resorting to a revote on the bill in the House of Representatives which they control, despite resistance from the opposition parties.

Photo: DPJ boycotts Diet session for the re-vote on the gas tax surcharge.

The legislation, to take effect Thursday, includes restoring a 25-yen per liter gas tax surcharge that expired March 31. The reinstatement of the surcharge is expected to cause retail gas prices to spike and intensify the row between the ruling and opposition parties.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, struggling amid sluggish support ratings and his ruling party's defeat in Sunday's lower house by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture, said the revote was needed to resolve the "irresponsible situation" in which the state and local governments are facing revenue shortfalls day by day.

"I understand fully that there are voices against raising gasoline prices when prices are rising...it was a very painful decision (for me to resort to a revote)," Fukuda told a press conference after the bill passed the Diet.

Photo: Mr. Yohei Kono, Speaker of the House of Representatives, forces his way through protesting lawmakers to enter the chamber for the re-vote.

It is the first time in 56 years that a law has been enacted in line with constitutional provisions that allow the lower house to hold a revote because the House of Councillors had not voted on a bill within 60 days of receiving it.

The tax bill cleared the lower house at the end of February and was sent to the opposition-controlled upper house. But the government and the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party failed to extend the decades-old surcharges beyond their March 31 expiration amid resistance by the opposition parties.

Photo: Members protest the gas tax re-vote outside the lower house chamber.

In a bid to stop the revote, opposition party members holding signs staged protests in the Diet building and even tried to block lower house Speaker Yohei Kono from entering the chamber to start the procedure for the vote.

Naoto Kan, acting president of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters later that "the lower house proved by raising the taxes that it is out of touch with the people's will" and urged Fukuda to dissolve the lower house and call for a general election.

The DPJ maintains that road tax revenue has been a hotbed of wasteful spending for vested interests and that the surcharges should be abolished. By making such arguments, the DPJ also defeated the LDP by a wide margin in Sunday's by-election, the first national-level election since the launch of the Fukuda administration last September.

The DPJ does not plan to submit a censure motion against Fukuda in the upper house immediately after Wednesday's revote, but Kan said the DPJ will consider whether to use the option "at the most effective time."

At the press conference, Fukuda shrugged off calls to dissolve the lower house, saying, "I'm not thinking about a dissolution at this moment."

Photo: lawmakers protest outside lower house chamber in the Diet.

Asked how he would deal with a possible submission of a nonbinding censure motion, Fukuda expressed hope that the opposition parties reach an agreement with the government and the ruling parties over the road tax issue, and added that he is "not thinking about things after that."

Fukuda said a total of 180 billion yen in revenue shortfalls have occurred in state and local governments in the one-month absence of the tax surcharges.

The road-related tax surcharges, comprising state and local levies on items such as gas and automobiles, were imposed on a provisional basis in the 1970s to expedite road development projects across Japan and were maintained through March this year.

The passage of the bill was welcomed by a number of governors who have been concerned about revenue shortfalls.

Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto told a regular press conference that he "is relieved." Hiroshima Gov. Yuzan Fujita said in a statement that he positively accepts the move "to a certain extent" but added that the state should "seriously accept the fact that it has caused major confusion" in local governments.

Under the Constitution, the more powerful lower house can hold a revote to pass a bill if the upper house rejects the bill or holds no vote within 60 days of receiving it because the lower house can determine that the upper house has rejected the bill.

Wednesday was the earliest possible date for the ruling parties to hold such a revote for the tax bill.

On Wednesday afternoon, the lower house approved by a majority vote during a plenary session the assumption that the upper house has "rejected" the bill.

The bill was then put to a revote and passed the Diet with the required two-thirds majority. The ruling parties hold a comfortable majority in the lower house.

The DPJ and two small opposition parties -- the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party -- refused to take part in the vote.

Following the passage of the bill, Japan's average retail price for regular gasoline is likely to top the record-high 155.50 yen per liter logged in December and could be around 160 yen in May, according to oil industry experts.

Economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota said it will take time to assess how the surcharges affect consumption.

It is the second time the ruling coalition has resorted to the revote scheme to pass bills it deems key since the opposition parties took control of the upper house following an election last July.

The previous revote was held in January to pass a bill to resume Japan's refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan after the upper house rejected the bill.

EDITORIAL: Opposition party's job

04/30/2008

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano recalls asking former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone a question about politics. "Sir, what is the job of an opposition party?" Yosano asked his political mentor.

"Well, it is to overthrow the government, no matter what it takes. Policy doesn't matter. Just unseating the government is the job of an opposition party," Nakasone answered.

This is an episode Yosano describes in his new book, "Dodotaru Seiji" (Dignified politics).

Defeated in the general election in 1993, the Liberal Democratic Party found itself in the opposition camp for the first time in its history after a coalition of other parties formed a government headed by Morihiro Hosokawa. Totally at a loss, Yosano posed the question to Nakasone, for whom he had once served as a secretary.

Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) is now trying to do "the job of an opposition party." Bent on forcing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election, the main opposition party is awaiting a suitable moment to submit a censure motion against Fukuda to the Upper House.

Even if a censure motion passes, Fukuda has shown no intention of responding to it by calling an election or resigning along with other Cabinet ministers.

Unlike a no-confidence vote against the Cabinet passed by the Lower House, a censure resolution passed by the Upper House is not legally binding. With Cabinet approval ratings languishing below 30 percent, the ruling camp wants to delay the general election as long as possible.

The results of Sunday's Lower House by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture left no doubt that favorable political winds are blowing for Minshuto. It is natural for the party to carefully plan its next political move to box the Fukuda government into a corner.

But the political meaning of "overthrowing the government" has changed dramatically since the days of the so-called 1955 system, when the LDP had a solid lock on power. All that the opposition camp could hope for in attacking the government back then was the replacement of the prime minister by another LDP bigwig.

In contrast, the opposition bloc now has a reasonable chance of wresting power from the LDP-led ruling coalition through a general election.

What kind of role should the leading opposition party play today?

Nakasone's argument that the primary mission of an opposition party is to overthrow the government is still relevant today. Given the growing momentum of political reform to ensure more frequent power transfers in this nation, efforts to displace the ruling party from power have political implications that go beyond a simple power struggle.

In order to achieve this mission, an opposition party may have to use hard-ball tactics that seem to defy reasonable thinking, such as Minshuto's repeated rejections of the government's nominees for the Bank of Japan governor. Bringing forward a censure motion against the prime minister for the purpose of halting Diet deliberations altogether is another example of such tactics. Whether this kind of political maneuver succeeds depends on whether it is supported by the public.

At the same time, Minshuto needs to win the trust of the voting public as a party prepared to govern the nation. Otherwise, it cannot hope to pull off a victory in the next Lower House poll. In addition to offering viable policy alternatives, Minshuto needs to make tenacious and effective efforts to force the ruling camp to change its policies.

Even if it cannot easily compromise on the gasoline tax surcharges and other issues, Minshuto should continue pressing the government to cut wasteful expenditures on roads.

As for the newly introduced health insurance program for people aged 75 or older, which Minshuto criticizes as a raw deal for the elderly, the opposition party should do more than just call for the scrapping of the program. Minshuto should propose a system that is fairer and more sustainable.

It is by no means asking for too much to call on Minshuto to try to unseat the government while pursuing its policy goals. As the main opposition party with an ambition for ascension to power, Minshuto needs to deal with both challenges with convincing political prowess.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 29(IHT/Asahi: April 30,2008)

Chief justice met U.S. ambassador before declaring bases in Japan constitutional

April 30, 2008

The chief justice at the Supreme Court secretly met with the U.S. ambassador to Japan in 1959 shortly before the top court overturned a lower court ruling that had declared the U.S. forces' presence in Japan was unconstitutional, according to a diplomatic document.

Shoji Niihara, a 76-year-old international affairs researcher, has found the document -- a telegraph message that then Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II sent to the U.S. secretary of state on April 24, 1959 -- at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Niihara criticized the U.S. action. "A foreign government representative's contact with the chief justice who was in charge of the trial and who headed the judicial branch of Japan's government constitutes interference of Japan's domestic affairs and a violation of the independence of the three branches of government."

The message shows that MacArthur met with Kotaro Tanaka, then chief justice of the Supreme Court who presided over the trial of the so-called Sunagawa case, to ask him about the schedule of the trial at the Supreme Court.

It stated that the deadline for presenting documentation setting forth justification for the appeal of the lower court ruling was set for June 15, adding that Foreign Ministry officials said deliberations on the appeal by the Supreme Court grand bench would probably commence by mid-July.

However, it said it was impossible at that stage to estimate the timing of the ruling.

The message then read: "In private conversation Chief Justice Tanaka told ambassador that while case had been given priority, under Japanese procedures after deliberations begin it would take at least several months for decision to be reached."

The message came about a month after the Tokyo District Court ruling on the Sunagawa case on March 30, 1959.

In the case, seven people who were opposing the presence of U.S. forces in Japan were indicted for destroying a fence and illegally entering U.S. Tachikawa base in western Tokyo in July 1957 in a bid to obstruct a location survey in connection with the expansion of the base.

The Tokyo District Court acquitted all of them after declaring the presence of U.S. forces in Japan under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty constitutes a violation of war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.

Prosecutors appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court instead of the Tokyo High Court. The Code of Criminal Procedure allows prosecutors to appeal a district court ruling that declares legislation is unconstitutional directly to the top court.

In response to an appeal by prosecutors, the Supreme Court scrapped the ruling in December 1959, and ordered the district court to retry the case. The seven were subsequently slapped with fines of 2,000 yen each, and the conviction was later confirmed.

(Mainichi Japan) April 30, 2008

EDITORIAL :: DPJ victory in Yamaguchi

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The victory of a candidate of the Democratic Party of Japan over a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 constituency has raised a question mark over Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's political leadership. The DPJ candidate trounced the LDP candidate by a margin of about 22,000 votes in the first election for a Diet seat since the inauguration of the Fukuda administration seven months ago.

In additional to the ruling bloc's plan to resurrect the surcharge on the gasoline tax, which expired March 31, the newly inaugurated health insurance scheme for people aged 75 and over became a major electoral issue. The new health insurance scheme raised the ire of many voters. Some people did not get new health insurance certificates in time, and deductions of premiums from pension benefits to fund the new health insurance plan began the same day that the election campaign officially kicked off.

Mr. Fukuda and other ruling bloc officials failed to convince voters of the need to have a separate health insurance scheme for elderly people. A Kyodo News telephone poll of voters in the constituency shows that 78 percent of the polled want the government to change it. Many people also believe that the ruling bloc failed to show sincerity in devising and explaining the new health insurance plan. Mr. Fukuda and other ruling bloc leaders also need to realize that people still harbor feelings of distrust toward the government due to its mismanagement of some 50 million pension premium payment records.

Influenced by the outcome of the by-election, Mr. Fukuda is now poised to have the Cabinet officially approve his proposal to use revenue from road-related taxes for general purposes from fiscal 2009. Saying that the election result showed "the will of the people," the DPJ is likely to step up its attack on the government and ruling bloc. It should decide on a course of action after considering what would be the best for the nation under the current circumstances.

U.S. Navy to conduct background check among all members

Apr 29 01:08 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 30 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The U.S. Navy in Japan will start conducting a survey on the life attitude and mental state of about 20,000 of its military and civilian personnel in May, following a spate of crimes including the murder of a taxi driver allegedly by a Navy seaman in March, U.S. military sources said Tuesday.

Such a background check will be the first conducted by the U.S. military in Japan. After analyzing the effectiveness of the survey, the U.S. Forces Japan will examine the possibility of conducting similar surveys on members of the Air Force and Army as well as Marines, the sources said.

The move apparently reflects the U.S. Navy's bid to rein in public backlash that is expected to grow ahead of the planned deployment in August of the George Washington nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The survey is part of the soldier management program that has been implemented by the U.S. military as a crime prevention measure and aimed at sorting out those who misbehave or have violent personality traits.

Subject to the survey will be a total of 20,000 people -- all military and civilian personnel belonging to the U.S. Navy Forces Japan as well as those of the 7th Fleet who are stationed in Japan.

Any member perceived to have a problem will be obliged to undergo counseling and other special education programs. Should no improvement be made, the person will be transferred back to the United States.

A military official has expressed expectations that the survey will help eliminate the potential cause for violent crimes.

However, another official has said the effect will be limited since hundreds of military personnel are replaced every month under a rotation deployment system.

In the survey, the Navy members will be asked via a questionnaire about their associations with friends and others in and out of their own teams, off-duty lifestyles and drinking habits, as well as experiences of illegal drugs. Psychological tests will also be conducted to examine their personalities and satisfaction about their lives.

Some questions may violate the right to privacy, but the U.S. Navy has determined that the survey is necessary as an effective step to prevent a recurrence of serious crimes, according to the sources.

The move has come after Japanese prosecutors last Thursday indicted Olatunboson Ugbogu, a 22-year-old seaman on the 7th Fleet cruiser Cowpens, for fatally stabbing the taxi driver on March 19.

Article also printed as "U.S. sailors to undergo mental check" in Japan Times, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Spouse gets suspended sentence in drug case

By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 30, 2008

NAHA, Okinawa — A U.S. civilian convicted of inhaling speed was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years.

Maunel Taitano, 42, husband of a civilian Marine base employee, nodded his head silently as Naha District Court Chief Judge Hiroyuki Yoshii delivered the sentence.

During a previous hearing, Taitano admitted he heated the illegal stimulant — phenylmethyl aminopropane — and inhaled the vapors March 1 at the Yomitan home of Satsuki Kawamura, the girlfriend of the supplier, Yuichi Mekaru, 29.

Yoshii said there were no extenuating circumstances for Taitano’s abuse of the substance. However, he suspended the sentence, stating that Taitano showed remorse and promised to stay away from illegal substances for the rest of his life. Taitano could have been sentenced to 18 months of hard labor in a Japanese prison.

Taitano had been under Japanese custody since his arrest, which came during a two-week period when all Americans connected to the U.S. military were restricted to their bases or off-base homes after a series of alleged crimes by Americans. Taitano still could face action by the Marine Base Inspector. In the past, U.S. civilians accused of drug use and possession in a Japanese court have been barred from Okinawa bases.

U.S. pressed Japan in 1959 on court ruling on U.S. military presence

Apr 29 10:41 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, April 29 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The then U.S. ambassador to Japan in 1959 pressured Japanese officials to overrule a lower court decision which decided that the U.S. military presence was unconstitutional, according to recently declassified documents made available Tuesday.

Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II, concerned about the ruling by the Tokyo District Court, pressed then Japanese Foreign Minister Aiichiro Fujiyama to appeal the case directly to the Supreme Court, skipping a high court, and held backroom talks with Kotaro Tanaka, then chief justice of the Supreme Court over the matter, the documents showed.

MacArthur was a nephew of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the Allies' occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951.

At the center was a 1957 incident, known as the Sunakawa case, in which seven people were arrested in July of that year after demonstrating against an expansion construction of the U.S. military base in Tachikawa, Tokyo. On March 30, 1959, the district court ruled they were not guilty, while saying the U.S. military presence in Japan violates the nation's pacifist Constitution.

In a telegraph sent to the U.S. State Department the following day, MacArthur wrote that he met with Fujiyama earlier in the day and "stressed importance of GOJ (government of Japan) taking speedy action to rectify ruling by Tokyo District Court."

"I expressed view that ruling not only created complications for security treaty discussions to which Fujiyama attaches such importance but also may create confusion in minds of public" and urged the Japanese government to bring it directly to the Supreme Court, he wrote.

A telegraph from MacArthur to the department on April 24 that year also showed the chief justice of the Supreme Court had contacted the U.S. ambassador.

The Supreme Court on Dec. 16, 1959, dismissed the district court decision and sent the case back to a lower court. The arrested people were eventually found guilty.

The telegraph and other related documents were found by Shoji Niihara, an expert on Japan-U.S. relations, earlier this month at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

ANALYSIS :: By-election loss adds to Fukuda's troubles

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer

Pressure will mount to hold an unwanted snap vote

The Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in the Lower House by-election in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district on Sunday is yet another blow to the already reeling Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

Faced with this emphatic sign of weakening popular support, the ruling coalition will now try to put off the general election as long as possible, political analysts say.

Photo: Much to ponder: Senior Liberal Democratic Party leaders (from left) Makoto Koga, head of the party's election committee; Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki; Toshihiro Nikai, chairman of the General Council; Sadakazu Tanigaki, chief of the Policy Research Council; and Hidehisa Otsuji, chairman of the party's Upper House caucus; attend a Monday session of the General Council.

On the other hand, the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, is expected to turn up the heat on Fukuda in a bid to pressure him into dissolving the Lower House for a snap election.

The by-election was the first national-level race since Fukuda took office in September.

The LDP-New Komeito ruling bloc, which has been struggling in the divided Diet since losing its Upper House majority in July, had been clinging to the hope that a victory in Sunday's election might turn the political tide.

But the outcome was once again a heavy loss for the ruling bloc.

The DPJ's Hideo Hiraoka, 54, won 116,348 votes — 22,000 more than the 94,404 cast for Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, of the LDP.

Analysts said the margin of victory was huge given that the district has traditionally been a conservative stronghold that has produced two prime ministers, Eisaku Sato and Nobusuke Kishi.

Kazuhisa Kawakami, a political science professor at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, said the by-election amounted to a thumbs down for Fukuda's leadership.

"Fukuda let the political situation grow worse without taking any action in the divided Diet," said Kawakami, who specializes in political psychology.

In the face of resistance in the opposition-controlled Upper House, Fukuda failed to extend the provisional extra rates on gasoline and other auto-related taxes — revenues used exclusively to finance road construction. The extra rates expired March 31, cutting gasoline prices by about ¥25 per liter this month.

Despite the by-election defeat, the ruling coalition reaffirmed on Monday that it would reinstate the gasoline and other road-related surcharges through an overriding vote Wednesday in the ruling bloc-dominated Lower House.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura denied the election outcome will affect the coalition's plans to reinstate the extra tax rates.

"We will continue to explain (to the public) about the need to raise (the tax rates) again," Machimura told a news conference Monday. "And we believe that we will gain the public's understanding."

Article 59 of the Constitution allows the Lower House to hold a second vote to approve a bill with a two-thirds majority if the Upper House does not vote on it within 60 days. The Lower House approved the tax bill Feb. 29 and, therefore, the lower chamber — in which the ruling bloc currently holds more than two-thirds of the seats — can hold a revote on the bill on or after Wednesday.

The DPJ has threatened to submit a censure motion against Fukuda in the Upper House if the ruling bloc decides to raise gasoline prices again.

Such a motion would not be legally binding, but the DPJ hopes to further damage Fukuda's Cabinet and force the prime minister to dissolve the lower chamber for a snap general election.

But Norihiko Narita, a political science professor at Surugadai University in Saitama Prefecture, advised against the DPJ taking such an action.

"Even if (the DPJ) submits a censure motion (and if it is endorsed in the opposition-controlled Upper House), all (the ruling bloc) has to do is ignore it," Narita said. "The DPJ, on the other hand, would have to boycott Diet deliberations (if such a motion is endorsed in the upper chamber), and could face public criticism for that."

Analysts also suggest that with the by-election loss, the next Lower House election will likely not be held for a while — and possibly not until the current Lower House members' four-year terms expire in September 2009. The right to dissolve the Lower House rests exclusively with the prime minister.

Various media surveys show that the Fukuda Cabinet is in critical condition with public approval ratings below 30 percent, and analysts say it is unlikely the LDP can win the next general election as things now stand.

"If there was a general election now, the DPJ would be stronger" than the LDP, Narita said.

Sunday's election also reflected public criticism of the ruling bloc over the new health insurance system for people aged 75 or older. The system, under which insurance premiums are deducted from pension payouts, has proved unpopular among elderly voters, who are generally considered a base of support for Fukuda.

The government and the ruling bloc "did not properly explain (the new health insurance system) to the elderly and (the ruling bloc) paid for that" with the by-election defeat, said Meiji Gakuin's Kawakami. Given that the new system was decided on two years ago under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the ruling bloc had plenty of time to make its case, he noted.

Machimura, also a veteran LDP lawmaker and head of the party's largest faction, repeatedly stressed before and after the election that the Yamaguchi by-election alone will not affect important national-level policies.

But Kawakami pointed out that ruling bloc lawmakers will begin clamoring for policy changes regarding the road-related taxes and health insurance in order to appeal to the public, despite the ruling bloc's efforts to reinstate the extra tax rates Wednesday.

"I think it is possible that (the ruling bloc) will make changes to its policies following the defeat," Kawakami said. Members of the ruling bloc know "that they won't be able to win the next general election under the current circumstances."

Surugadai University's Narita, who served as secretary to Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa when the LDP was forced out of power in 1993, also noted that Sunday's by-election was a rare instance of a key election being swayed by policy issues.

The LDP's defeat, Narita said, reminded him of the party's crushing loss in the 1989 Upper House election, which followed the introduction of the unpopular consumption tax.

"A by-election is an indicator of (voter sentiment for) the next general election," Narita said. "I feel that there are signs of a major political change and (the LDP's defeat) left a strong impression."
Insurance to blame

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda admitted Monday evening that the confusion over the new insurance system for the elderly was a major factor in the ruling bloc's huge defeat in Sunday's Yamaguchi No. 2 district by-election, but said he has no intention of changing the system.

"It was a crushing defeat," said Fukuda, who also heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. "There were many reasons, but the insurance system for the elderly was a major cause."

The new system for people aged 75 and older was introduced April 15, immediately drawing harsh criticism from the elderly, whose premiums are being deducted from pension benefits.

But despite acknowledging the problems regarding the new system, Fukuda said now is the time to examine how the system is actually working instead of thinking of scrapping it.

Fukuda also told reporters he would be willing to have his Cabinet officially endorse a plan in mid-May to free up revenue from road-related taxes, which has been solely used to fund road construction, starting in April 2009.

Fukuda met in the afternoon with Akihiro Ota, leader of New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, and came to an agreement to reinstate the provisionally added extra rates on gasoline and other auto-related taxes Wednesday.

This means that gasoline prices, which dropped by ¥25 per liter in April, will once again rise starting May 1.

"Day by day, the longer we wait, (the lack of tax revenue) is digging a hole in the income of the national and local governments," Fukuda said.

"Of course nobody is happy that (gasoline) prices will go up. . . . But we must make efforts to gain the public's understanding."

The LDP's candidate, Shigetaro Yamamoto, lost the by-election by a solid margin of 22,000 votes to Hideo Hiraoka of the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force.

EDITORIAL: LDP defeat in by-election

04/29/2008

For beleaguered Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the election defeat on Sunday couldn't have come at a worse time.

The candidate supported by his Liberal Democratic Party was beaten decisively by the contender backed by the main opposition party, Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), in the Lower House by-election for Yamaguchi Prefecture's No. 2 district.

The poll came three days before the expected Lower House vote on a bill to revive the expired gasoline tax surcharges. The outcome crushed any hope Fukuda might have had of gaining the political capital needed to break the legislative gridlock in the divided Diet and push through his policy initiatives.

Despite the electoral drubbing, however, the ruling coalition plans to use its two-thirds majority in the Lower House to ram the tax bill through. But the poll results must have made the ruling camp painfully aware of the strong voter discontent over the way the nation is governed.

The Fukuda Cabinet's approval ratings have plummeted below 30 percent. The voter verdict delivered Sunday will likely make the ruling camp strongly averse to facing an early general election.

For Minshuto, the electoral victory represents clear public support for the hard-line tactics it has adopted in its Diet battles with the ruling camp. In moves that created strains within the party, Minshuto repeatedly rejected the government's nominees for Bank of Japan governor. Coming after the bruising parliamentary fight, Sunday's win will do a lot to help Minshuto chief Ichiro Ozawa rebuild his damaged power base within the party.

The question for Minshuto is whether it should seize on this victory to submit a censure motion against Fukuda, setting the stage for an all-out parliamentary war with the ruling alliance. But will such a move really force Fukuda to dissolve the Lower House for a snap poll?

Minshuto faces a tough decision.

Exit polls and other information showed that many voters in Yamaguchi Prefecture were affected by national policy issues. That suggests there was strong disgruntlement among voters about the new health insurance program for people aged 75 or older, as well as about the gasoline surcharges.

The ruling camp campaigned on local issues, such as the proposal to make the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, available for civilian airline services. But this campaign strategy failed to win the hearts and minds of voters.

In this sense, the by-election gave voters an opportunity to show their evaluation of Fukuda's performance in his first seven months in office. Although it was a judgment made by voters in only one of the 300 single-seat constituencies around the nation, it delivered an unmistakable political message to the government and the ruling coalition.

For one thing, voters in Yamaguchi made clear their disapproval of the ruling camp's plan to use its overwhelming majority in the Lower House to pass the bill to put the gasoline levy back in place.

After a series of revelations showed wasteful and unjustifiable spending of the revenues devoted for building roads, many taxpayers are clearly unwilling to pay the surcharges of 25 yen per liter of gasoline as they used to.

The ruling coalition also plans to enact on May 12 a separate bill to maintain this road-funding scheme for 10 more years by using its majority in the Lower House again. Fukuda has promised to scrap the road-specific taxes at the end of fiscal 2008. Not surprisingly, however, many Japanese doubt whether the prime minister can deliver on his promise.

Another factor behind the ruling camp's electoral defeat was the newly introduced health insurance program for the elderly. Fukuda has said the new system is based on sound logic and thinking. Such remarks make us wonder whether he really understands the anger and anxiety of elderly people.

No system can work unless it is trusted by the public. The seriousness of the situation lies in the fact that public confidence in the health-care system has become shaky.

If the ruling coalition doesn't take the results of the by-election seriously and refuses to change its plans concerning the votes on these controversial pieces of legislation, calls for an early general election will grow louder among voters.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 28(IHT/Asahi: April 29,2008)

Tighter defense ties with Seoul eyed

04/29/2008
BY YOSHIHIRO MAKINO
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

SEOUL--Officials from Japan and South Korea are working on a memorandum designed to establish more systematic exchanges between the Self-Defense Forces and the South Korean military, sources said Monday.

While exchange of officers and cadets as well as joint training exercises have been held periodically since the 1990s, past attempts to improve the exchange program have often failed due to fallout over Japan's handling of issues related to the history between the two nations.

The two sides hope to sign a memorandum that would have some binding power in order to stabilize such exchanges in the future.

According to the sources, the memorandum would cover things like mutual visits of high-ranking officers from the two countries, exchanges between the National Defense Academy of Japan and the Korea Military Academy, as well as joint maritime rescue training exercises.

Officials from the two sides hope to have the memorandum completed for a signing ceremony in South Korea by Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and National Defense Minister Lee Sang Hee before the end of the year.

Exchanges between the SDF and the South Korean military became more active after the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 1994.

In 2001, however, a planned visit to South Korea by a Maritime SDF fleet and a joint maritime rescue training exercise were postponed due to concerns raised in Seoul about Japanese textbooks that were considered revisionist.

Meetings between the defense ministers of the two nations were later suspended for about 20 months after then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes not only Japan's war dead but also Class-A war criminals.

According to the sources, working-level discussions led to an agreement on the general outline of the memorandum last July.(IHT/Asahi: April 29,2008)

LDP catches a cold with poll loss / Adverse wind assails ruling bloc over new medical insurance system

Hirohide Hayashi, Kohei Kobayashi and Masaki Uchida / Yomiuri Shimbun

The easy victory of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a key by-election on Sunday shows how strongly the public deplores the newly introduced health insurance system for those aged 75 and older.

DPJ candidate Hideo Hiraoka won a House of Representatives seat in the Yamaguchi Constituency No. 2 by-election, defeating LDP candidate Shigetaro Yamamoto by a wide margin.

Under the leadership of its president, Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ is set to intensify its opposition against the government and the ruling parties, according to sources close to the party.

On the other hand, the election outcome made it clear that an adverse wind is still blowing against the administration led by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. Given this, an increasing number of members within the ruling coalition reject the possibility that the lower house be dissolved in the near future.

"This is the beginning of the end of LDP rule," DPJ Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka said at his residence in Tokyo on Sunday night. "The government and the ruling coalition should take the election outcome seriously and immediately scrap the new medical insurance system for the elderly."

Yamaoka also urged the government and the ruling parties to withdraw their plan to approve a tax code bill at the lower house for a second time to revive the provisional gasoline tax rate.

Another DPJ executive said the election result represents a motion of no-confidence against Fukuda, although that there was no need for the party to submit a censure against Fukuda at this stage, given that public criticism is focused on the Cabinet over the pension, gasoline tax and medical insurance issues.

What turned out to be the biggest issue in contention in the Yamaguchi by-election was the medical insurance system for the elderly.

Though it was initially projected that public interest would be focused on whether the provisional gasoline tax would be revived, the election campaign was increasingly affected by the new insurance system after automatic deduction of its premiums started on April 15.

The LDP decided to field Yamamoto, believing that he would be able to capture voters' support with his proposals on the promotion and revitalization of local economies by taking advantage of his previous career as the head of the Cabinet Secretariat's office on regional revitalization.

However, individual candidates' policies and characteristics as well as other points of contention were overshadowed by strong criticism of the medical insurance system.

===

Ozawa restores influence

The DPJ is unlikely to submit a censure motion against Fukuda immediately, even if the ruling bloc passes the tax code bill into law with a second vote at the lower house Wednesday.

But the party still intends to strongly oppose the ruling parties' taking a second vote on the bill. DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama plans to ask lower house Speaker Yohei Kono not to open the plenary session.

"We'll [try to] block the opening of the plenary session," a DPJ executive said.

The next opportunity to submit the censure motion is likely to come after May 12, when the ruling coalition is considering approving a bill for a second time to revise a special law on road-related taxes to exclusively allocate revenues from the gasoline tax for road construction and maintenance over the next 10 years, according to political observers.

Though the DPJ plans to soon submit to the upper house for approval a bill to abolish the controversial health insurance system, the government and the ruling bloc are expected to reject the DPJ demand to review the system, the observers said.

Therefore, an increasing number of DPJ members are calling on the party executive to submit a censure motion against Fukuda on that ground.

The main opposition party also is considering submitting a counterproposal against the bill to revise the special law on road-related taxes.

The DPJ plans to incorporate Fukuda's principle to allocate revenues from road-related taxes for general spending from fiscal 2009 in the party's proposal. The opposition bloc has been criticizing the bill proposed by the government and ruling coalition as it apparently contradicts Fukuda's proposal. Given this, the DPJ intends to put pressure on the ruling bloc.

Sunday's victory had an important meaning for Ozawa, whose tenure as party president will expire in September.

"President Ozawa significantly restored his influence [within the party]. He moved some steps toward winning reelection as president," Hatoyama said.

In contrast, the election outcome turned out to be extremely bitter for the government and the ruling bloc.

"We failed to give sufficient and appropriate explanations on the new medical insurance system for the elderly," LDP Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki told reporters Sunday night.

However, no one in the party has yet called Fukuda to account for the defeat because the introduction of the medical insurance system had been decided before Fukuda took office, according to party executives.

There are no demands within the ruling bloc for Fukuda's resignation because a dominant number of members in the bloc believe that the situation will be the same whoever takes the helm of the government as long as the DPJ sticks to a confrontational stance against the ruling parties based on the opposition's majority in the upper house.

With the Group of Eight summit meeting scheduled to open in Toyakocho, Hokkaido, in July, the lower house is unlikely to be dissolved anytime soon. This seems to have strengthened feelings within the ruling bloc that there is no need to replace the prime minister soon, the observers said.

(Apr. 29, 2008)

JGPO updates master plan - Recent articles

KUAM

JGPO updates master plan
http://www.kuam.com/news/27551.aspx
Thursday, April 24, 2008

download: http://www.kuam-media.com/news/pdf/jgpo_draftfinalmasterplan.pdf


Pacific News Center

Cong Bordallo, MajGen Bice, and Asst Navy Sec Penn about Military Buildup Draft Master Plan, Changing the Port Designation and HR1595
http://www.sorensenmediagroup.com/k57podcast/080425_073529.mp3
posted by Newstalk K57 at 7:46 AM

LtCol Cube and Annette Donner about Military Buildup Draft Master Plan
http://www.sorensenmediagroup.com/k57podcast/080425_081747.mp3
posted by Newstalk K57 at 9:23 AM


Pacific Daily News

Finegayan preferred site: Draft master plan would put Marine base in north
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS01/804250308/1002
April 25, 2008

download: http://www.guampdn.com/assets/pdf/M0106671425.PDF


Marianas Variety

Latest draft of buildup plan released; Preferred site still Finegayan
http://www.mvariety.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=10473&format=html
Thursday April 24 [sic], 2008


Saipan Tribune

Latest version of Guam's buildup master plan out
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=79316&cat=29
Friday, April 25, 2008

DPJ celebrates 1st decade, but still lacks unity

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Democratic Party of Japan may be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding as it presses ahead with its bid to take power by winning the next general election, but the party still remains unable to rise above the weaknesses stemming from its diverse composition.

As a result of its major victory in the House of Councillors election in July last year, the DPJ now has the largest share of seats in the upper chamber, making it plausible for the DPJ to declare its intention to take the reins of government by winning the next general election of the House of Representatives.

The DPJ, however, still lacks unity when it comes to forging a consensus among the disparate groups within the party, a problem the party has faced since its very conception.

DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa, speaking at a May Day-related meeting sponsored by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) at Tokyo's Yoyogi Park on Saturday, reiterated the party's "firm resolve" to wrest power from the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito.

"To improve people's lives, a change of government is needed to carry out a major spring cleaning of Japanese politics," Ozawa said. "So let's join hands to accomplish this great task of changing the party in power."

Ozawa joined the DPJ in September 2003 after having the party he then headed, Jiyuto (Liberal Party), merged with the DPJ.

To achieve his long-cherished goal of taking power, Ozawa has set about strengthening ties with the nation's largest labor organization, Rengo, one of the biggest bodies supporting the DPJ.

At the meeting, two other DPJ leaders, Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and his predecessor Naoto Kan, who both played key roles in founding the party, stressed the importance of further beefing up the unity of the party.

"Under the leadership of Mr. Ozawa, the unity of our party has noticeably strengthened," Hatoyama said during a press conference Friday.

"We need to share the goal of bringing about a change of administration by returning to the original political ideals of our party to transform this country into one comprising truly autonomous local entities," he said.

For his part, Kan said at a separate press conference, "Although we had every intention to take the helm of government at an earlier stage, we fell short of achieving that goal."

"What's most important for our party is to learn to be patient when we need to be patient," he said.

The DPJ came into being in its current form on April 27, 1998, through a merger of four opposition parties: the previous DPJ, the Good Governance Party (Minseito), the Fraternity Party (Shinto-Yuai) and the Democratic Reform Party (Minshu-Kaikaku Rengo). Participating in the merger that led to the DPJ's creation were 131 lawmakers, 93 from the lower house and 38 from the upper house.

Following its establishment, the party saw its Diet strength expand in successive national elections.

In the general election in September 2005, however, the DPJ suffered a crushing defeat as the administration led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi swept to victory under the banner of Koizumi's initiative to privatize the postal services.

In April the following year, Ozawa took the post of DPJ head, giving full play to his clout in boosting party unity, leading the DPJ to the big win in the 2007 upper house election.

Ozawa's strength in leading the party lies in his reputation within the party for being a man who is "strong in elections."

But this also means that if the possibility of a dissolution of the lower house and a general election in the near future becomes slim, Ozawa will have to fret over how to maintain his leadership intact.

Indeed, voices of discontent over Ozawa's leadership style have been growing louder recently because of his unrelenting confrontational stance against the ruling coalition, as evidenced by the DPJ's rejection three times in a row of government-proposed appointments for the new Bank of Japan governor and vice governors.

(Apr. 28, 2008)

Beleaguered Japan PM in pinch after by-election loss

Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:40am EDT
By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) - Calls to replace Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda are emerging in his Liberal Democratic Party, an influential ruling party lawmaker said on Monday, after the ruling bloc suffered a bruising by-election defeat.

But former chief cabinet minister Kaoru Yosano, whose name has been floated as a possible successor to Fukuda, also said he thought the Japanese leader should soldier on and try to revive his support rates, now below 30 percent.

Photo: Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda meet for talks outside Moscow April 26, 2008.

In a vote widely seen as a referendum on Fukuda's struggling administration, former opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Hideo Hiraoka defeated the LDP's Shigetaro Yamamoto in Yamaguchi, central Japan, in Sunday's contest for a lower house seat.

"I think we should continue this administration until as close as possible to the end of term in September next year and wait for the support rate to rise," Yosano told Reuters in an interview.

Fukuda's support rate fell to 25 percent in a recent survey due mainly to doubts about his leadership in the face of a divided parliament, where the opposition controls the upper house and can delay laws.

"Of course, it is true that the opinion has emerged inside the party that it is impossible to revive the administration's support rates, so if there is to be an election, it should be done under a new administration," the 69-year-old Yosano added.

"I don't know how far that view will spread."

The ruling bloc loss in Sunday's poll is all but certain to embolden opposition Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa to step up efforts to force an early general election.

No lower house election need be held until September 2009.

But some financial market players, frustrated with Japan's policy paralysis, would like to see an earlier poll in hopes it could help break the gridlock, perhaps by sparking a realignment of political allegiances among members of the two main parties.

ELECTION "SUICIDE"

Yosano, however, said calling an election any time soon would be suicidal for the long-ruling LDP, given Fukuda's sagging popularity and voter dissatisfaction with the party itself.

"An election in the current situation ... would invite the LDP's own death," he said.

Analysts said Fukuda might manage to hang on at least until after he hosts the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations' summit in July, but added that his political clout would likely wane.

Outspoken former foreign minister Taro Aso is viewed as the frontrunner to replace him, but former Defence Minister Yuriko Koike and Yosano have also been mentioned as possible contenders.

Despite the election loss, the ruling bloc plans to go ahead with a plan on Wednesday to use its two-thirds majority in the lower house to override the upper chamber and enact a law reviving a "temporary" 25 yen (23 cents) gasoline tax that expired on March 31.

The higher prices will start the next day, in the middle of Japan's holiday-studded Golden Week, timing that is unlikely to impress vacationing motorists.

"If this is put off, there will be a hole in national and local government revenues," Fukuda told reporters.

The Democrats argue the tax, which is earmarked for building roads and would bring in 2.6 trillion yen annual revenue, symbolizes the LDP's wasteful spending on vested interests.

The tax was a focus of the Yamaguchi election along with a new and unpopular health insurance scheme for those 75 and over and concerns over the pension system.

Democratic Party leaders have threatened to submit a non-binding but embarrassing censure motion against Fukuda in the upper house if the tax is revived. But the opposition is now seen more likely to wait until after May 12, when the ruling bloc plans to use its two-thirds majority again to pass another law outlining a 10-year plan for road construction.

Critics, including some in the LDP, say the bill contradicts Fukuda's own proposal to stop earmarking the gas tax for roads.

Asked about simmering talk that Japan's political scene was ripe for shake up that would help break the stalemate, Yosano said such moves could gather steam later this year. But he denied he would be a major player.

"I'm a silent observer," he said.

(Additional reporting by Yuko Yoshikawa and Yoko Kubota)

SKorea, Japan plan wider military cooperation

8 hours ago

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea and Japan plan to sign their first comprehensive agreement on military cooperation, the defence ministry said Monday, in another sign of warming ties between the two historic enemies.

The two countries "are pushing to sign a comprehensive agreement on military cooperation," a ministry spokesman told AFP.

Photo: South Korean tanks cross a river during a regular drill in Yeoncheon

"Bilateral military cooperation so far has been on a much smaller and irregular basis," the spokesman said.

"No details have yet been fixed and there is no concrete date yet for signing it."

Such an agreement would be the first since Japan's colonial rule over the Korean peninsula ended in 1945 after 35 years.

Yonhap news agency said it was likely to be signed during a visit by Japan's Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba sometime this year.

It quoted ministry officials as saying Tokyo proposed signing such a pact in 2005. But Seoul opposed the move, amid tensions over Tokyo's claim to disputed islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

Relations at the time also soured over what Seoul saw as Tokyo's attempts to whitewash its atrocities during its colonial rule.

Photo: Japanese Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba

Officials said the agreement outlines general rules on cooperation and personnel exchanges, along with regular joint search-and-rescue naval exercises.

South Korea's new President Lee Myung-Bak held a summit in Tokyo last week with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, at which Lee pledged to seek better ties untainted by bitter historical memories.

Any military cooperation deal would be eyed suspiciously by North Korea, which accuses Tokyo of still harbouring designs over the Korean peninsula.

Seoul seeks military cooperation agreement with Japan

Posted on : Apr.28,2008 12:52 KST

South Korea is considering signing an agreement on military cooperation with Japan for the first time since Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule over six decades ago, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

The formal agreement is likely to be signed during a visit here by Japan's Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, according to a spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

"It is true that both sides have felt the need for such an agreement and have been consulting with each other on the issue," the ministry spokesman, Kim Hyong-ki, told reporters, noting the official title or the nature of the envisioned agreement has yet to be finalized.

The spokesman said the Japanese defense minister will visit the country within the year for an annual meeting with his South Korean counterpart, though the exact date of the visit has yet to be set.

"What the agreement will look like or how it will come to be is up to additional negotiations between the sides," Kim added.

Ministry officials earlier said Tokyo had proposed signing such an agreement in 2005, but that Seoul had opposed the move amid tension over Japan's claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo in the East Sea and continued disputes over Japan's attempts to whitewash its atrocities during its colonial rule of Korea from 1910 through 1945.

"Because the sides had already composed the agreement in 2005, they really only need to sign the document at the upcoming meeting," a ministry official said, asking not to be identified.

The official said the agreement outlines what he called "general rules" on cooperation and personnel exchanges between the militaries of the two nations that also call for regular joint search-and-rescue exercises between their navies.

South Korea's naval forces nearly clashed with two of Japan's Coast Guard survey ships in 2006 as the Japanese vessels approached Dokdo to conduct research. Tokyo has called off the maritime research, but continues to claim sovereignty over the islets.

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap)

Japan PM suffers by-election blow

1 hour, 25 minutes ago

TOKYO (AFP) - A candidate backed by the main opposition party scored a large victory in a weekend Japanese by-election, official figures showed, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

The by-election in a constituency in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi was the first vote for a parliament seat since Fukuda took power in September and was seen as a referendum on his cabinet amid tumbling support ratings.

Photo: A candidate backed by the main opposition party scored a large victory in a weekend Japanese by-election, official figures showed, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, seen here

Hideo Hiraoka, a 54-year-old former lawmaker backed by the Democratic Party, garnered 116,348 votes against 94,404 by Shigetaro Yamamoto, a 59-year-old former bureaucrat fielded by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Democratic Party secretary-general Yukio Hatoyama said late Sunday the people "gave a hard blow to the Fukuda government."

"We made a leap towards the birth of Ozawa government," he said, referring to party leader Ichiro Ozawa.

Support ratings for Fukuda's cabinet have fallen to their lowest levels since he took over from the beleaguered Shinzo Abe.

The ruling party under Abe lost badly against the opposition Democratic Party in national elections in July last year, handing control of one house of parliament to the opposition camp.

The Democratic Party has pledged to create a true two-party system in Japan, where the Liberal Democrats have been in power for all but 10 months in a period stretching back more than half-a-century.

Support for the Fukuda government has taken a beating over corruption and other scandals, controversy over a petrol tax and the April start of a medical scheme which results in higher expenses for some of those aged 75 or older.

Japan has one of the world's most rapidly ageing populations, raising concerns about how the government will pay for rising medical costs and pension benefits.

Japan's refueling mission feared suspension

2008/04/28 10:43

Some Japanese government officials say Japan might not be able to continue its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean after a temporary law that allows the mission expires in January.

The Liberal Democratic Party has decided to put off introducing permanent legislation to deploy Self-Defense Forces overseas to the current session of the Diet.

This is because the main governing party failed to agree with its coalition partner, the New Komeito Party, on the issue.

Permanent legislation would have allowed the Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to continue refueling US-led coalition ships in the Indian Ocean even after the current anti-terrorism law expires next January.

Many government officials believe seeking an extension of the current law would also be difficult because the opposition parties, who are opposed to it, have a majority in the Upper House.

DPJ on way to victory in key election

Monday, April 28, 2008

YAMAGUCHI (Kyodo) The Democratic Party of Japan was poised to beat the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a Lower House by-election Sunday in Yamaguchi Prefecture, according to exit polls.

The race was widely seen as a litmus test for the Yasuo Fukuda administration.

Photo: Projecting a win: Hideo Hiraoka of the Democratic Party of Japan celebrates Sunday in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, after exit polls showed he was set to take a Lower House by-election seen as a litmus test of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration.

The projected victory by Hideo Hiraoka in the first election for a Diet seat since Fukuda became prime minister seven months ago is expected to raise doubts about his leadership and embolden the DPJ to step up its attacks.

Their eyes set on the next general election, both the LDP and the DPJ threw full support behind their candidates during the campaign in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district. The next general election could take place later this year and will be a crucial test for whether the long-ruling LDP can stay in power.

Hiraoka, 54, was also backed by the tiny opposition Social Democratic Party.

"This by-election is the latest demonstration of the public will. I want to see how the Fukuda administration deals with it," Hiraoka said.

The LDP candidate, Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former bureaucrat of the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, received additional support from the LDP's coalition partner, New Komeito.

With the projected loss, Fukuda, whose support ratings have fallen below the critical 30 percent line in recent media polls, may face criticism from within his party over his handling of the government.

The DPJ is expected to try to take the initiative in the Diet on the back of the "people's will" shown in Sunday's by-election and the House of Councilors election last July, in which the opposition camp won control of the Upper House.

The campaign was surrounded by crucial national issues, including the fierce battle over gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges that expired March 31 due to resistance from the opposition parties.

Regardless of Sunday's outcome, the ruling parties plan to seek passage Wednesday of a tax reform bill that would reinstate the road surcharges by resorting to an overriding vote in the Lower House. Wednesday is the earliest date when such a vote is possible under the Constitution.

To counter such moves, the DPJ will make final arrangements on whether to submit a censure motion against Fukuda in the Upper House. Censure motions are nonbinding, but if passed it would nonetheless be another blow to the government.

The government and the ruling parties have insisted that failure to pass the tax bill would cause serious revenue shortfalls for local governments. But the move to reinstate the surcharges, about ¥25 per liter of gasoline, could trigger a public backlash.

While calling for abolishment of the surcharges, the opposition camp has also stepped up criticism over a new health insurance system for people aged 75 and older that took effect April 1.

The system has triggered complaints among the elderly, regarded as a key part of Fukuda's base, over premium deductions from pension benefits and bureaucratic blunders.

A sense of distrust over such government policies apparently helped the DPJ in the Yamaguchi race.

Issues that also attracted attention in the campaign included a planned relocation of U.S. carrier-borne fighter jets to a base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is in the No. 2 district, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Minshuto set to win in Yamaguchi race

04/28/2008
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

IWAKUNI, Yamaguchi Prefecture--Hideo Hiraoka, the Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) candidate, celebrated as his victory appeared a sure thing in the Lower House by-election in Yamaguchi No. 2 district on Sunday.

Early returns indicated Hiraoka, 54, had a strong lead over Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, the candidate fielded by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito.


Photo: Minshuto candidate Hideo Hiraoka, second from right, celebrates his victory in Sunday's Lower House by-election with his supporters in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The race was the first national election since Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda took office in September, and both camps took the challenge seriously. Each sent senior party members to campaign across the electoral district in the most "unprecedented all-out battle" of recent years.

The by-election was held to fill a seat vacated by Yoshihiko Fukuda, an LDP lawmaker who resigned to run in the Iwakuni mayoral election in February.

For the prime minister, defeat for his party's candidate will further undermine his leadership in the Diet and within the LDP.

Eager voices within the LDP are likely to call for a change in leadership, hoping a new leader with greater popularity can revive the ruling party's fortunes with voters.

Minshuto, meanwhile, called the Yamaguchi contest a "must-win battle" needed to buoy its support in Diet debate over the coalition plan to reinstate later this week provisional gas and other road-related taxes that expired at the end of March.

Another factor that likely aided Hiraoka's victory was Minshuto's strong campaign against the government's recent implementation of health insurance premium deductions from pension benefits paid to people 75 or older, which came on top of the Social Insurance Agency debacle involving missing pension records.

Regardless of the outcome Sunday, the ruling coalition will forge ahead with plans to revive the gasoline surcharge of 25 yen per liter in a second vote Wednesday in the Lower House.

It also plans to ram through a bill on May 12 to use revenue from the gas tax exclusively for road construction over the next decade.

Still, an election defeat will sap Fukuda's leadership within his party, raising internal opposition against his efforts, especially among younger Diet members.

Much depends on Fukuda's statesmanship abilities during his upcoming May summit meeting with Chinese leader Hu Jintao and the Group of Eight summit meeting at Lake Toyako, Hokkaido, in July.

Minshuto, for its part, will bank on public support for its policies and become even more confrontational in the Diet to push for a general election as soon as possible.

Minshuto leaders, including President Ichiro Ozawa, are to meet Monday to discuss a censure motion against Fukuda.

The party plans to propose the motion in the Upper House if the ruling bloc rams through the gas-tax road construction bill on May 12.(IHT/Asahi: April 28,2008)

DPJ cruises to win in key by-election / Yamaguchi poll loss a blow to Fukuda, LDP

The Yomiuri Shimbun

YAMAGUCHI--Democratic Party of Japan candidate Hideo Hiraoka easily won a House of Representatives seat in the Yamaguchi Constituency No. 2 by-election Sunday, dealing a fresh blow to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

Observers said the outcome of the first Diet election since Fukuda took office in September could be taken as a gauge of public sentiment toward Fukuda's performance.

Photo: Hideo Hiraoka, center, celebrates his win in Sunday's Yamaguchi by-election at his office in Iwakuni in the prefecture.

Hiraoka, 54, a former lower house member, defeated Liberal Democratic Party candidate Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former official of the Construction and Transport Ministry, who also was backed by the LDP's coalition partner, New Komeito. Hiraoka was elected to the lower house for a fourth term.

"I achieved this result even though the ruling parties devoted all their energy to this election battle," Hiraoka said at his office in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. "I think we have a certain degree of support for a change in government."

Hiraoka picked up 116,348 votes, while Yamamoto gained 94,404 votes. Voter turnout was 69 percent, 3.45 percentage points lower than in the last lower house election in 2005.

According to political pundits, the widely unpopular health insurance system launched this month for people aged 75 or older might have been a key factor in tipping support toward the DPJ candidate.

Buoyed by Hiraoka's victory, the DPJ plans to soon submit a bill to the House of Councillors to abolish the controversial health insurance system, although it does not plan to immediately submit a censure motion against Fukuda to the Diet. The government and the ruling parties plan to stand by the health insurance system.

"We now have more options in hand to corner the Fukuda Cabinet without submitting a censure motion against him," DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said at a press conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo. "We'll think about the best time to resort to this measure [censure motion]."

Meanwhile, the government and the ruling parties plan to approve a tax-related bill to restore the provisional gasoline tax for a second time Wednesday at the lower house to enact it into law.

The move is certain to provoke the ire of the opposition parties, which are likely to play hardball in the Diet over the matter.

Fukuda is expected to face a bumpy road as he tries to steer the government through the stormy Diet sessions this week, particularly over the provisional gasoline tax rate.

The government is set to restore the higher gasoline tax rate Thursday by issuing an ordinance to this effect.

(Apr. 28, 2008)