May 31, 2010
Criticism against Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is growing within his own Democratic Party after a junior partner, the Social Democratic Party, left the governing coalition over the relocation of a US base in Okinawa.
Senior Democrat Yoshimitsu Takashima told reporters on Monday that Upper House lawmakers who are up for reelection this summer are calling on Hatoyama to resign.
Takashima said party executives are united behind Hatoyama but will tell him about the tough situation, adding that it's up to the prime minister to make a decision.
Later in the day, the DPJ leadership held an executives meeting and decided to leave how to deal with the issue to the party's Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa and its Upper House caucus chairman, Azuma Koshiishi.Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party decided that it would vote for a possible no-confidence or censure motion against the Hatoyama cabinet, saying that the prime minister has lost the public's trust due to his handling of the Futenma issue.
The SDP quit the coalition after the cabinet adopted a policy to relocate the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture.
The Social Democrats are calling on the base to be moved out of Okinawa or out of Japan.
2010/05/31 19:40(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
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