[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009
Cabinet's support rate drops 16.5 points: poll
Kyodo News
The support rate for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet stood at 47.2 percent in a recent survey, down 16.5 percentage points from the previous poll conducted a month ago.
The disapproval rate rose 13.0 points to 38.1 percent in the survey, which was carried out Friday and Saturday after prosecutors indicted two of Hatoyama's former secretaries over falsified fund reports.
In the telephone survey, a total of 1,470 eligible voters were contacted, of whom 1,030 made valid responses.
A total of 36.1 percent said they support Hatoyama's ruling Democratic Party of Japan, down 8.9 percentage points, while the support rate for the Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition force, stood at 23.7 percent, an increase of 7.5 points from the previous poll. In the same survey, 30.5 percent said they had no political affiliation.
Roughly three-quarters of those surveyed, some 76.1 percent, said they were not convinced by Hatoyama's account of the alleged irregularities involving his political fund management group. Hatoyama was not indicted due to a lack of evidence of his involvement.
Only 17.8 percent said Hatoyama's explanation was convincing.
Asked whether he should step down, 64.3 percent wanted Hatoyama to remain in office but said he needs to fulfill his responsibilities and give a full explanation of the matter, while 21.1 percent called for him to resign.
On Thursday, former secretary Keiji Katsuba, 59, was indicted without arrest on a charge of falsifying the prime minister's funding reports. Daisuke Haga, 55, another former secretary who also served as the chief accountant for Hatoyama's political funds body, was indicted on a charge of gross negligence, also without arrest.
Hours after the indictments, Hatoyama made clear his intention to stay in his job in a nationally televised news conference.
The indictments came on the 100th day following the launch of the Hatoyama government.
The support rate for the Hatoyama Cabinet stood at 72.0 percent in a survey held shortly after its inauguration in mid-September, but dropped to 61.8 percent in October, before rebounding slightly to 63.7 percent last month.
Meanwhile, a total of 67.9 percent said they did not support the Hatoyama Cabinet's decision to postpone the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture until next year. As to where the base should be relocated, 41.0 percent said it should be moved overseas.
Regarding a meeting earlier this month between Emperor Akihito and visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping that was arranged in breach of Imperial protocol, 54.7 percent thought the Emperor had been politically exploited, while 37.9 percent felt this was not the case.
In arranging the audience for Xi, the government breached a customary rule that such a meeting should be requested at least a month in advance. The Imperial Household Agency later expressed concern about possible political exploitation of the Emperor.
As for the minor parties, New Komeito polled 1.9 percent support, the Japanese Communist Party 1.3 percent, the Social Democratic Party 1.8 percent, Your Party 1.7 percent and Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) 1.1 percent.
Hatoyama to visit India
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will visit India from Sunday for talks with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi, the government said Friday.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009
Separate surnames bill readied
Legislation would allow married couples to keep family names
Kyodo News
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba has decided to submit a bill to an ordinary Diet session to be convened in January to revise the Civil Code so that married couples can choose whether to have the same family name or keep their own surnames, sources said Saturday.
The envisioned bill is also likely to amend the current provision under the Civil Code that prohibits women from remarrying within six months of a divorce, the sources said.
Chiba has already conveyed her intention to the prime minister's office and begun discussions with other relevant Cabinet members, they said.
The government and the ruling parties are expected to start coordinating on the issue from the beginning of next year.
According to the sources, Chiba hopes to get Cabinet approval for the amendment around March, following consent from the Justice Ministry.
Under the planned amendment, the family name of any children of married couples who opt to have separate surnames will likely be unified with that of either of the parents, the sources said.
As for the provision barring women from remarrying after a divorce, the bill is expected to lower the period to around 100 days instead of the current six months, they added.
The Civil Code adopted the provision prohibiting women from remarrying within six months of a divorce to avoid possible confusion in determining the father of the child if the woman became pregnant during such a period.
However, the regulation has been criticized as outdated and discriminatory as men are free to remarry anytime after a divorce.
The planned revision is also likely to scrap another discriminatory provision in which a child born out of wedlock is entitled to receive only half the inheritance that a child born in wedlock can, the sources said.
In 1996, the Legislative Council, an advisory panel to the justice minister, recommended that the government introduce a system allowing married couples to choose separate surnames.
Although the Justice Ministry once compiled a bill to revise the Civil Code, it abandoned the idea of submitting it to the Diet due to opposition from the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan, to which Chiba belongs, repeatedly submitted to the Diet when it was in opposition an amendment bill to allow for separate surnames for married couples, but it was scrapped each time.
South Korea grillings
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba said Friday she will visit South Korea next month to inspect its system of recording the interrogation process of crime suspects.
South Korea introduced visual and audio recordings of the interrogation of suspects in January last year.
During her visit from Jan. 6 to 8, Chiba will exchange views with South Korea judicial authorities at the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009
DPJ eyes changing Constitution
Hatoyama says amendment would enable transfer of power to local governments
Kyodo News
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Saturday he is willing to move forward with a plan to amend the Constitution in line with his party's drive to transfer power to local governments.
"I would like to see the Constitution revised in the sense that the positions of the central government and local governments would be reversed," Hatoyama said in a recording for a radio program.
He suggested he does not want to put the focus of the debate on constitutional reform on whether or how Article 9, which bars the use of military force in settling international disputes, should be changed.
"What we want to do is help make the Constitution serve the country in the best possible manner," he said.
Speaking about the issue of relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, Hatoyama questioned the idea of moving it to Guam, which has been advocated by the Social Democratic Party, a junior coalition partner in his Democratic Party of Japan-led administration.
"It looks as though having everything at Futenma transferred to the U.S. territory of Guam is unrealistic in light of the deterrence" provided by the U.S. military, Hatoyama said.
Gift tax payment
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took steps Friday to pay about \600 million in taxes on some ¥1.26 billion he received from his mother since 2002, claiming the money was a form of gift, sources close to Hatoyama said.
Some of the money is believed to have been logged as donations by fictitious donors.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday evening, Hatoyama said he intended to pay the tax immediately, following the indictments of two of his former state-paid aides over the political funds scandal.
On Friday, Hatoyama told his Cabinet ministers, "I will work hard in national governance, so I would like to ask for your support," according to Hiroshi Nakai, chairman of the National Commission on Public Safety.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009
Cabinet's support rate drops 16.5 points: poll
Kyodo News
The support rate for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet stood at 47.2 percent in a recent survey, down 16.5 percentage points from the previous poll conducted a month ago.
The disapproval rate rose 13.0 points to 38.1 percent in the survey, which was carried out Friday and Saturday after prosecutors indicted two of Hatoyama's former secretaries over falsified fund reports.
In the telephone survey, a total of 1,470 eligible voters were contacted, of whom 1,030 made valid responses.
A total of 36.1 percent said they support Hatoyama's ruling Democratic Party of Japan, down 8.9 percentage points, while the support rate for the Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition force, stood at 23.7 percent, an increase of 7.5 points from the previous poll. In the same survey, 30.5 percent said they had no political affiliation.
Roughly three-quarters of those surveyed, some 76.1 percent, said they were not convinced by Hatoyama's account of the alleged irregularities involving his political fund management group. Hatoyama was not indicted due to a lack of evidence of his involvement.
Only 17.8 percent said Hatoyama's explanation was convincing.
Asked whether he should step down, 64.3 percent wanted Hatoyama to remain in office but said he needs to fulfill his responsibilities and give a full explanation of the matter, while 21.1 percent called for him to resign.
On Thursday, former secretary Keiji Katsuba, 59, was indicted without arrest on a charge of falsifying the prime minister's funding reports. Daisuke Haga, 55, another former secretary who also served as the chief accountant for Hatoyama's political funds body, was indicted on a charge of gross negligence, also without arrest.
Hours after the indictments, Hatoyama made clear his intention to stay in his job in a nationally televised news conference.
The indictments came on the 100th day following the launch of the Hatoyama government.
The support rate for the Hatoyama Cabinet stood at 72.0 percent in a survey held shortly after its inauguration in mid-September, but dropped to 61.8 percent in October, before rebounding slightly to 63.7 percent last month.
Meanwhile, a total of 67.9 percent said they did not support the Hatoyama Cabinet's decision to postpone the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture until next year. As to where the base should be relocated, 41.0 percent said it should be moved overseas.
Regarding a meeting earlier this month between Emperor Akihito and visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping that was arranged in breach of Imperial protocol, 54.7 percent thought the Emperor had been politically exploited, while 37.9 percent felt this was not the case.
In arranging the audience for Xi, the government breached a customary rule that such a meeting should be requested at least a month in advance. The Imperial Household Agency later expressed concern about possible political exploitation of the Emperor.
As for the minor parties, New Komeito polled 1.9 percent support, the Japanese Communist Party 1.3 percent, the Social Democratic Party 1.8 percent, Your Party 1.7 percent and Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) 1.1 percent.
Hatoyama to visit India
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will visit India from Sunday for talks with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi, the government said Friday.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009
Separate surnames bill readied
Legislation would allow married couples to keep family names
Kyodo News
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba has decided to submit a bill to an ordinary Diet session to be convened in January to revise the Civil Code so that married couples can choose whether to have the same family name or keep their own surnames, sources said Saturday.
The envisioned bill is also likely to amend the current provision under the Civil Code that prohibits women from remarrying within six months of a divorce, the sources said.
Chiba has already conveyed her intention to the prime minister's office and begun discussions with other relevant Cabinet members, they said.
The government and the ruling parties are expected to start coordinating on the issue from the beginning of next year.
According to the sources, Chiba hopes to get Cabinet approval for the amendment around March, following consent from the Justice Ministry.
Under the planned amendment, the family name of any children of married couples who opt to have separate surnames will likely be unified with that of either of the parents, the sources said.
As for the provision barring women from remarrying after a divorce, the bill is expected to lower the period to around 100 days instead of the current six months, they added.
The Civil Code adopted the provision prohibiting women from remarrying within six months of a divorce to avoid possible confusion in determining the father of the child if the woman became pregnant during such a period.
However, the regulation has been criticized as outdated and discriminatory as men are free to remarry anytime after a divorce.
The planned revision is also likely to scrap another discriminatory provision in which a child born out of wedlock is entitled to receive only half the inheritance that a child born in wedlock can, the sources said.
In 1996, the Legislative Council, an advisory panel to the justice minister, recommended that the government introduce a system allowing married couples to choose separate surnames.
Although the Justice Ministry once compiled a bill to revise the Civil Code, it abandoned the idea of submitting it to the Diet due to opposition from the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan, to which Chiba belongs, repeatedly submitted to the Diet when it was in opposition an amendment bill to allow for separate surnames for married couples, but it was scrapped each time.
South Korea grillings
Justice Minister Keiko Chiba said Friday she will visit South Korea next month to inspect its system of recording the interrogation process of crime suspects.
South Korea introduced visual and audio recordings of the interrogation of suspects in January last year.
During her visit from Jan. 6 to 8, Chiba will exchange views with South Korea judicial authorities at the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009
DPJ eyes changing Constitution
Hatoyama says amendment would enable transfer of power to local governments
Kyodo News
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Saturday he is willing to move forward with a plan to amend the Constitution in line with his party's drive to transfer power to local governments.
"I would like to see the Constitution revised in the sense that the positions of the central government and local governments would be reversed," Hatoyama said in a recording for a radio program.
He suggested he does not want to put the focus of the debate on constitutional reform on whether or how Article 9, which bars the use of military force in settling international disputes, should be changed.
"What we want to do is help make the Constitution serve the country in the best possible manner," he said.
Speaking about the issue of relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, Hatoyama questioned the idea of moving it to Guam, which has been advocated by the Social Democratic Party, a junior coalition partner in his Democratic Party of Japan-led administration.
"It looks as though having everything at Futenma transferred to the U.S. territory of Guam is unrealistic in light of the deterrence" provided by the U.S. military, Hatoyama said.
Gift tax payment
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took steps Friday to pay about \600 million in taxes on some ¥1.26 billion he received from his mother since 2002, claiming the money was a form of gift, sources close to Hatoyama said.
Some of the money is believed to have been logged as donations by fictitious donors.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday evening, Hatoyama said he intended to pay the tax immediately, following the indictments of two of his former state-paid aides over the political funds scandal.
On Friday, Hatoyama told his Cabinet ministers, "I will work hard in national governance, so I would like to ask for your support," according to Hiroshi Nakai, chairman of the National Commission on Public Safety.
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