Prime minister to explain decision to reluctant New Komeito head Ota
Written by Writer on Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Aso to announce delay to election / Prime minister to explain decision to reluctant New Komeito head Ota
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Prime Minister Taro Aso likely will reveal Thursday he will not dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election anytime soon, according to sources in the ruling coalition.
The prime minister revealed his intention to several officials of the ruling coalition Tuesday night, the sources said.
In recent weeks, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito have been preparing for a general election with a Nov. 30 voting day in mind.
Aso will meet with New Komeito leader Akihiro Ota on Thursday and is expected to ask Ota to accept his decision, the sources said.
Aso is expected to express his intention to delay holding the election when he holds a press conference Thursday to announce a fresh economic stimulus package devised by the government and the ruling parties.
The government and ruling parties are considering submitting the second supplementary budget, which will cover the cost of the package, possibly as soon as mid-November. They also are considering extending the current Diet session, which is scheduled to end Nov. 30, to ensure the second supplementary budget is passed, according to sources.
At Thursday’s press conference, the prime minister plans to urge opposition parties to help the speedy enactment of a bill to revise the Law on Special Measures for Strengthening Financial Functions, the sources said.
If enacted, the revised law would allow the government to inject state funds into banks and other financial institutions to strengthen their financial base.
New Komeito has been informed of Aso’s intention to postpone the election.
LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Tadamori Oshima met with his New Komeito counterpart, Yoshio Urushibara, on Tuesday to brief him on talks Oshima held the previous night with Aso and LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda.
Oshima reportedly told Aso: “If you don’t dissolve the lower house on [Oct.] 30th, the opposition will put up resistance and the bills won’t be enacted easily. If you get stuck and dissolve the lower house, that would be the worst scenario. You should dissolve it on the 30th.”
But Aso reportedly said, “No matter how tough the situation becomes, I intend to address economic issues without dissolving the lower house.”
New Komeito and Soka Gakkai–a lay Buddhist organization that is the party’s main supporter–are uncomfortable about Aso’s intention to put off dissolving the lower house, party sources said.
New Komeito gathered all of its lower house members Tuesday at the party headquarters.
Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa said: “At this point, it’s hard to figure out the timing of dissolution. But don’t relax your preparations. Remain ready for an election.”
Ota agreed with Kitagawa.
New Komeito and Soka Gakkai have geared up for the general election, assuming it will be held Nov. 30.
“We can’t pull back our fists that easily,” a party source said.
New Komeito places great importance on next summer’s Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, and it wants a sufficient gap between the general election and the local election. The party is worried the general election will be pushed back too close to the assembly election.
But as Tokyo stocks kept hitting new post-bubble lows, some party members began to say they should step back from election-alert status and start preparations from scratch later.
“The general election should not be simply pushed back. There should be a strategy that sets the timing of the election and tactics,” a senior party member said.
Soka Gakkai executives on Tuesday agreed to continue preparing for a general election until Nov. 10.
The group thinks there is a possibility that an election could be held Dec. 7 at the latest. Nov. 10 would be the last possible day a decision could be made for that scenario, according to its calculations.
(Oct. 30, 2008)
