Monday, November 29, 1999

Japan cabinet meets on U.S. base as support sags

News posted by www.newsinfoline.com

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and a handful of cabinet ministers tried to hammer out a policy on the relocation of a U.S. airbase on Monday, as the row weighed on voter support ahead of an election.Hatoyama said he would stick to a self-imposed end-of-May deadline for resolving the feud, which has been one of the triggers for evaporating voter support in the run-up to an upper house election expected in July.The Democrats' chances of winning a majority in that election are receding, raising the chances of policy deadlock as the country struggles to maintain a fragile economic recovery and control ballooning public debt.Less than a fifth of Japanese plan to vote for the ruling Democratic Party in the election, according to a Yomiuri newspaper poll published on Monday.Graphic on Japan voter support: http://r.reuters.com/myv63gGraphic on voting intentions: http://link.reuters.com/jev83jAbout a quarter of respondents to the Yomiuri poll said they supported Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his cabinet, down on 33 percent in a previous poll last month and compared with 67 percent who said they did not.FUZZY DEFINITIONHatoyama on Monday reiterated a vow to settle the row over the Futenma U.S. Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa by the end of May, but left unclear what form the resolution would take."I told the people at the end of May and I have no intention of changing that," Hatoyama told reporters. "I want us all to agree on a direction without fail," he added.About half respondents to the Yomiuri poll said he should resign if he misses the deadline.But chances of a deal look remote after he was rebuffed by islanders when he visited last weekend with a plan that would keep most of the base's functions on Okinawa.Hatoyama said ministers would make efforts to come up with a plan at Monday's meeting, but members of his cabinet have blurred the definition of what he Hatoyama has promised."If you're asking whether everything will be done by May 31, the answer is probably 'no'," Transport Minister Seiji Maehara was quoted as telling a television talk show at the weekend.He later told reporters negotiations with residents of Okinawa and another small island the government hopes will host some facilities would have to continue after the deadline.The Democrats' support had already been weakened by a series of funding scandals involving party lawmakers.The scandals hit the headlines again last month when ajudicial review panel said Democratic Party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa,seen by many as the real power behind the government, should becharged over misreporting of his political funds. Ozawa hasrepeatedly said he will not step down.(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds)

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