5 July 2010 / REUTERS, TOKYO
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged voters on Sunday to give his party a clear win in a July 11 poll to avoid political deadlock as he renewed a call for multi-party talks on a possible sales tax rise to curb huge debt.
Kan also warned against the risk of a hasty shift to tighten Japan’s fiscal stance, but added that the country could not keep relying on the sort of borrowing that has pushed its debt to nearly 200 percent of GDP, the worst among advanced nations. Media surveys suggest Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan will likely fall short of a majority in the upper house election and may need to seek new allies, complicating efforts to implement policies including steps to fix Japan’s tattered finances. ”There have been five prime ministers over the last four years. Will politics become even more confused and unable to decide anything, or can we bring back responsible, stable politics?” Kan said in a debate with other party leaders on NHK public TV. ”I would like the people to choose a responsible and stable government,” added Kan, who took over after unpopular Yukio Hatoyama abruptly quit last month. The Democrats, who swept to power last year pledging to cut waste and put more cash into the hands of consumers, will almost certainly stay in power regardless of the poll outcome due to its huge majority in the more powerful lower house. But Kan hopes to avoid a situation like that faced by his main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) predecessors after a 2007 upper house election deprived the then-ruling bloc of a majority in the chamber, making it tough to enact bills smoothly.
