JAPAN: Hundreds march through Tokyo in protest against Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government and its response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster
Record ID:
465236
JAPAN: Hundreds march through Tokyo in protest against Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government and its response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster
- Title: JAPAN: Hundreds march through Tokyo in protest against Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government and its response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster
- Date: 11th July 2011
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 10, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING WITH BALLOONS AND BANNERS PROTESTER HOLDING BANNER WITH PICTURE OF NAOTO KAN MORE OF MARCH, JAPANESE FLAGS IN THE PROTEST VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING ON ROAD, POLICE GUARDING DEMONSTRATION ORGANISER ADDRESSING PROTESTERS FROM PODIUM VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS WITH JAPANESE FLAGS LISTENING MALE PROTESTER APPLAUDING CARICATURE OF PRIME MINISTER NAOTO KAN (SOUNDBITE) (Japanse) 62-YEAR-OLD PROTESTER, SECRETARY GENERAL OF JAPANESE 'GO FOR IT! NATIONAL ACTION COMMITTEE', SATORU MIZUSHIMA, SAYING: "Among other thins, we really demand Prime Minister Naoto Kan to resign as soon as possible. Believing that his resignation can be a breakthrough to move forward to reconstruction, we just want him to step down as a first thing." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING, CALLING FOR KAN'S RESIGNATION
- Embargoed: 26th July 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Disasters,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVACOW4HPTHF8XR288CST07JRDNV
- Story Text: Hundreds of nationalists marched in Japan on Sunday (July 10) protesting against Prime Minister Naoto Kan's handling of the nuclear disaster. While the protesters were mainly nationalists, opinion polls show that the majority of voters are against Kan for clinging to his post despite widespread disapproval.
According to the opinion polls conducted by the Jiji news agency in June, only 22 per cent supported Kan's government, 81.7 per cent did not want Kan to continue with his job, and 72.6 per cent thought Kan was not doing a good job in dealing with the nuclear crisis.
Kan's own party, the opposition and most voters want him to go, but Kan could still hang on to his post for months, jeopardising efforts to curb huge public debt and craft new energy policies after the nuclear crisis.
Protesters gathered in Inogashira Park claimed Kan was hindering Japan's recovery efforts.
"Among other thins, we really demand Prime Minister Naoto Kan to resign as soon as possible. Believing that his resignation can be a breakthrough to move forward to reconstruction, we just want him to step down as a first thing," said Satoru Mizushima.
The unpopular Kan, who has promised to step down but has not set a date, suffered a fresh setback on Thursday (July 7). The public came to question the consistency of his government when it declared it would conduct a stress test of the Genkai nuclear power plant after the government announced it was safe to re-start. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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