Mori may announce resignation plans

Local media expect Mori's resignation to come in April

In this story: Possible April resignation National economy at stake Successor unknown RELATED STORIES

TOKYO, Japan -- Japan's embattled prime minister may announce his plans to resign as early as Friday, local media reported.

Pressure has mounted for Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, whose public support was cut by a string of gaffes and scandals, to announce his resignation before or at a convention of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party on March 13.

Morning editions of the daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers said that Mori, who has publicly denied he has any such plans, might state his intention to resign Friday to avoid further political confusion.

Japan's top government spokesman said on Friday that he could not comment on the reports.

"I have not heard anything," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference. "I don't know where such information is coming from."

Possible April resignation

His actual resignation, however, would probably not come until after the enactment of budget-related legislation, expected in early April, Nihon Keizai said.

Mori's successor would be selected in a vote by ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers in parliament and representatives of the party's prefectural branches, it added.

The Yomiuri quoted a member of Mori's own faction of the multi-group LDP as saying the prime minister's resignation had become inevitable and that it was therefore best if he stated his intention as soon as possible.

Calls have mounted in the LDP-led coalition to ditch Mori to improve the three ruling parties' chances in an Upper House election in July.

A loss in the Upper House election would not immediately oust the ruling bloc, but would spell legislative deadlock and could prompt an early election for parliament's powerful lower chamber.

National economy at stake

The political dithering comes at a delicate time for the Japanese economy, which is showing signs of slipping into recession with no easy cures in sight given already rock-bottom interest rates and a huge public debt that makes further fiscal stimulus difficult.

Ruling party policy-makers are tidying up a package of steps they hope will cheer up investors in Japan's stock market, where prices remain near 15-year lows.

Since the contents of that package are expected to be unveiled later Friday, Mori might delay a statement on his resignation until Saturday, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.

Newspapers had said Thursday that a stubborn Mori might not make a clear statement ahead of the LDP convention, but could instead make a vague reference to "taking responsibility" at the opening ceremony.

Opposition parties, seizing on the potential for a lame-duck premier, agreed Thursday to boycott parliamentary debate if Mori pledged to step down but delayed his actual resignation, Mainichi Shimbun reported.

Successor unknown

Wily LDP powerbroker Hiromu Nonaka, one of the "Gang of Four" who selected Mori for the top job last April and a heavyweight in the party's biggest faction, and Junichiro Koizumi, the reformist but somewhat eccentric head of Mori's own faction, top the list of often-cited candidates to become the next prime minister.

The LDP's two allies, the New Komeito and the tiny New Conservative Party, favor Nonaka, but his "fixer" image is unlikely to go down well with a broad swathe of the public.

Chikage Ogi, head of the New Conservative Party and herself whispered to be a dark horse candidate, urged Nonaka to take the post but got no reply, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper reported on Thursday, citing LDP sources.

Former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, a proponent of fiscal restructuring who resigned after the LDP lost the last Upper House election in 1998 and who is now a minister in Mori's cabinet, is another contender, as are Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma and Economics Minister Taro Aso.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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