Asia-Pacific

Japan party threatens to leave govt over US base

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-04 09:37

TOKYO: The leader of Japan's tiny Social Democratic Party threatened yesterday to leave the ruling coalition if her views on a US military base were ignored, the latest sign of strains complicating policy decisions.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has formed an awkward coalition with the pacifist Social Democrats, whose support he needs to pass legislation, but whose stance on Tokyo's security alliance with Washington clashes with that of many in his own party.

Japan is under Washington pressure to implement a plan to shift a US Marine base from the center of a city on Okinawa to a more remote part of the southern island. But the Social Democratic Party (SDP) supports the view of local people who want it moved off Okinawa.

SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima told party members that if the government decided to go ahead with the existing plan, "the Social Democratic Party and I will have to make an important decision".

Hatoyama, who heads the main coalition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, said he would take the SDP's views seriously and that he does not necessarily aim to reach a conclusion by year-end, risking further irritating the United States as he tries to keep the coalition together.

Reuters