TOKYO: Unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan faces fresh pressure to quit after his ruling party's losses in local elections on Sunday, weakening his clout as he struggles to contain a nuclear crisis and find ways to finance post-quake rebuilding. Kan is unlikely to step down easily, but the outcome of the polls will make it harder to get opposition cooperation in figuring out how to fund rebuilding from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that caused up to $300 billion in damage, a tough task given a public debt twice the $5 trillion economy. Such cooperation is vital as Kan faces a divided parliament. “I don't think the results of the elections will lead to any quick resolution, but it is true that the opposition parties will feel emboldened to be obstructionist,” said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano. Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) lost six out of nine mayoral races in which it faced off directly against its main opposition, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). It also lagged behind in a spate of city assembly elections across the country, Japanese media reported, although the LDP itself lost seats. A candidate from the conservative opposition LDP also romped to victory in a lower house by-election in the former Democratic Party stronghold of Aichi, central Japan, after the ruling party failed even to field a contender.
