August 23, 2010
A governing Democratic Party official intends to ask the party's former Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa to run against Prime Minister Naoto Kan in the upcoming party leadership election.
DPJ Vice President Kenji Yamaoka said on Sunday that if Kan is reelected party chief, the Lower House will have to be dissolved for a general election next year to seek a mandate from the people. He said this would make the party unable to fulfill its responsibilities to the public.
Yamaoka plans to ask Ozawa on Thursday to stand in the leadership election after soliciting reactions from his study group members to a speech that Ozawa will deliver on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kan will start meetings on Monday with 1st-term Lower House members to listen to their demands for the government.
Kan will also receive on Monday a briefing from Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda on planned stimulus measures, and hopes to meet Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa by the end of this week.
Kan says the economy and employment are the most important issues, and that he wants to tackle them without wasting any time.
Campaigning for the September 14th DPJ leadership election will begin on September 1st.
2010/08/23 10:08(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
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