TOKYO (MNI) – Some 42% of Japanese believe Prime Minister Naoto Kan
should resign as soon as possible, up sharply from 21% seen a month ago,
according to a weekend poll conducted by Nikkei Inc and TV Tokyo Corp.

The survey also found that some 18% said Kan should resign by
around August, meaning that about 60% believe he should exit during the
current 220-day parliamentary session, which has been extended to the
end of August.

Meanwhile, Katsuya Okada, secretary general of the ruling
Democratic Party of Japan, told a television program on Sunday that Kan
could step down before end-August if he clears all three main policy
targets through parliament, including enactment of a second
quake-response supplementary budget.

While in office, Kan also wishes to see enactment of a bill on
deficit-covering bond issuance for the fiscal 2011 budget and voting on
a bill to promote the use of renewable energy.

Earlier this month, Kan survived the worst crisis of his
12-month-old government by promising to quit at an unspecified future
date in an attempt to keep political infighting from breaking up the
ruling party.

On June 2, parliament rejected a no-confidence motion submitted by
opposition parties against the prime minister and his cabinet.

At the time Kan told lawmakers from the ruling party that he will
step down sometime after the rebuilding program for the northeastern
regions hit by the March 11 earthquake disaster is firmly underway and
the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is under
control.

The Nikkei-TV Tokyo poll also found that support for the Kan
government, which had risen slightly after the quake, dipped 2 points to
26%, the first drop in four months.

The telephone poll surveyed 1,501 households from Friday to Sunday,
with 893 providing valid responses. Areas heavily damaged by the quake
were excluded.

Kan saw the public approval rating of his cabinet tumble to 19% in
a February poll by the Mainichi Shimbun, the lowest since the DPJ took
power away from the LDP in September 2009.

Kan took office in June last year from his predecessor, Yukio
Hatoyama, who resigned after his public support slumped to 20%.

With the 70-day extension, Kan and his party deputies wish to pass
legislation needed to issue deficit-covering bonds for the fiscal 2011
national budget as well as a second disaster-response supplementary
budget.

Without the bills’ approval by parliament, the government would not
be able to secure about 40% of the revenue planned in the Y92.41
trillion budget for the current fiscal year.

The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party would not allow the
budget-related bills to be approved in the opposition-controlled upper
house of the Diet if the DPJ stuck to its 2009 parliamentary election
campaign promises, such as the monthly allowance program for families
with children.

Okada, the number two man at the ruling party, said on Sunday that
the government is flexible about the opposition request for setting an
upper limit on household income in the program.

Okada said the second supplementary budget will be submitted to
parliament on July 15 and that he expects it to be enacted by the end
of July following 10 days of deliberations.

Even if the opposition-controlled upper house refused to discuss
the budget bills, the government could send them back to the lower house
60 days after it was sent to the upper house and vote on them.

tokyo@marketnews.com
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