JAPAN: Tokyo residents angered by vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and say surprised he survived

Record ID: 464056

  • Title: JAPAN: Tokyo residents angered by vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and say surprised he survived
  • Date: 3rd June 2011
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JUNE 2, 2011) (REUTERS) PEOPLE CROSSING ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 64-YEAR-OLD RETIREE TAKASHI HAMADA SAYING: "In this difficult time, I have to wonder why they even submitted a no-confidence motion." PEOPLE WAITING ON SIGNAL AT CROSSING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 42-YEAR-OLD BUSINESS MAN MUNEHISA MURAKAMI SAYING: "I don't think it's time for fighting, but instead they should be focusing efforts on the disaster affected areas." PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 48-YEAR-OLD SWIMMING INSTRUCTOR YOKO OGATA SAYING: "More than quitting on his own accord, I thought he'd be forced to quit and so I have to wonder whether he'll be able to continue with that having happened." MORE OF PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET VARIOUS OF POLITICS PROFESSOR AT SOPHIA UNIVERSITY, KOICHI NAKANO, WORKING IN OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT SOPHIA UNIVERSITY, KOICHI NAKANO, SAYING: "He may be able to say that well, this was a crisis, but we're over it and we have to move on. The LDP and Komeito opposition parties will not be in a position to repeat the same trick for some time to come. Therefore Kan would have to concentrate on how to deal with the rebels, Ozawa and Hatoyama in particular, but other than that the conditions would be somewhat favorable for Kan." NAKANO BEING INTERVIEWED EXTERIOR OF HEADQUARTERS OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN (DPJ) DPJ SIGN
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4X60LIIN2WWGSC0IJRBLN67EW
  • Story Text: Japanese were angered by the vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday (June 2) and surprised he survived.
    Kan survived a no-confidence vote by offering to resign once the worst of the country's nuclear crisis is over in a successful last-ditch effort to quell a brewing revolt in his ruling party.
    Thanks to Kan's manoeuvring, the parliamentary no-confidence motion -- brought by the opposition over his handling of the country's deepest crisis since World War Two -- was comfortably defeated by 293 to 152 votes.
    The Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said he will make sure Kan sticks to his word.
    "This doesn't mean that everything is over. We had the prime minister say that he would resign and so we intend to work to make sure that does indeed happen," said Hatoyama, who along with DPJ powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa had retracted their earlier positions in favor of the no-confidence vote and helped Kan ultimately survive.
    But with Japan still struggling to contain a nuclear crisis in Fukushima and thousands still missing after the March disaster, many Japanese wondered why the motion was even brought to a vote.
    "In this difficult time, I have to wonder why they even submitted a no-confidence motion," said 64-year-old Takashi Hamada.
    "I don't think it's time for fighting, but instead they should be focusing efforts on the disaster affected areas," added 42-year-old Munehisa Murakami.
    Others also questioned whether Kan would be able to continue leading having shown how shaky his support may be.
    "More than quitting on his own accord, I thought he'd be forced to quit and so I have to wonder whether he'll be able to continue with that having happened," said 48-year-old Yoko Ogata.
    Kan's offer to resign helped him win back support including that of Ozawa and Hatoyama.
    Now that Kan has managed to get through the vote with only two of his own party members voting against him, Sophia University Political Science Professor Koichi Nakano said that the experience may even bolstered the premier's chances.
    "He may be able to say that well, this was a crisis, but we're over it and we have to move on. The LDP and Komeito opposition parties will not be in a position to repeat the same trick for some time to come. Therefore Kan would have to concentrate on how to deal with the rebels, Ozawa and Hatoyama in particular, but other than that the conditions would be somewhat favorable for Kan," Nakano said.
    Kan, who took office almost exactly a year ago as Japan's fifth minister in as many years, is battling to control a radiation crisis at the Fukushima plant which was knocked out by the tsunami.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register