Japan's popular former health minister, Yoichi Masuzoe, left the main opposition party on Thursday to form the latest in a string of new groups complicating the outlook ahead of a national election, according to Reuters. Even as the once-mighty Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) unravelled further, a fresh policy fracas emerged in Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's ruling camp, this time over a plan to revise highway tolls that some critics say would contradict a campaign pledge to make expressways toll-free. The departure of Masuzoe, 61, who tops opinion polls as the lawmaker voters prefer as next premier, is a blow to the LDP, ousted from power last year after more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule. But it is uncertain whether the fragmentation of the pro-business LDP helps Hatoyama's struggling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in an upper house election that it needs to win to smooth policy making as Japan struggles with a fragile economy and bulging public debt. Support for Hatoyama's government has sunk to around 30 percent in recent polls on doubts about his ability to make tough decisions, including how to resolve a feud over a U.S. airbase on Okinawa island by the end of May. Even some people in his own party have said Hatoyama might have to resign if he fails to meet his self-imposed deadline. "It's not good for the LDP. It's not good for the opposition generally," said Koichi Nakano, a professor at Sophia University in Tokyo. "If it leads to the creation of a new opposition force, it could be a challenge to the Democrats but for now, a fragmented opposition must be good news for them." Masuzoe, a multilingual former academic and one-time TV commentator, told reporters on Thursday that he would submit a letter of resignation from the LDP later in the day. Asked what would be his new party's principles, Masuzoe said: "That will be in line with what I have been saying for a long time, including overcoming deflation, clean money politics ... and boosting Japan's competitiveness and status in the world, which were hurt by a weak economy." HATOYAMA'S HEADACHES Japanese media were quick to note that lawmakers expected to join Masuzoe's new party did not all share his policy stance. Instead, they include lawmakers from a minor opposition party whose own seats are at risk in the upper house election, expected in July. Hatoyama's own headaches, meanwhile, are steadily worsening and prospects for a decisive victory in the upper house, which can delay legislation, are slim to non-existent, analysts say. In the latest sign of policy disarray, Hatoyama told reporters the government would rethink a plan to revise highway tolls that would result in some fees rising, after what Japanese media said was a demand by ruling party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa to alter the proposal because it violated a campaign pledge. But Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, a former party chief who is often critical of Ozawa, said after a meeting with the premier that the plan would not be changed "at this time". A former close aide to Hatoyama, who had pleaded guilty to charges of falsifying political fund records, was sentenced on Thursday to two years' imprisonment, suspended for three years. But the court ruling made no mention of involvement by the premier, Japanese media reported. Media say judicial review panels are set to hand down decisions soon on whether the premier and Ozawa should be indicted in political funding scandals. Both Hatoyama and Ozawa have denied any intentional wrongdoing, but public suspicions have been a key factor behind the government's falling support rates. Nor is an exit from the Futenma dilemma in sight. The premier said on Wednesday he would stick to his end-May deadline on resolving the dispute over where to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma airbase on Okinawa, reluctant host to the majority of U.S. forces in Japan. But opposition has flared in one potential relocation site outside of Okinawa, while Washington wants to stick to a 2006 deal to shift the base to the northern part of the island.
