Japan's Hatoyama resigns, dogged by Okinawa base dispute

Japan plunged again into political upheaval Wednesday after the Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, said he would resign amid fierce public criticism over his handling of a US military base relocation, just eight months after his party won a landslide election victory.

In another blow to the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Mr. Hatoyama said his powerful general-secretary, Ichiro Ozawa, would also quit in an attempt to “clean up” the party’s image.

Mr. Ozawa, widely seen as the main power broker in the government, has been embroiled in a political funding scandal since last spring. Hatoyama, meanwhile, has faced questions over revelations that he received $170,000 a month from his mother to support his political activities.

“Since last year’s elections, I tried to change politics so that the people of Japan would be the main characters,” Hatoyama said in a televised address to party members.

But he conceded that he had failed to convince voters that he was capable of implementing the sweeping policy changes he promised last year, crucially his determination to end decades of subservience to US foreign policy.

“That was mainly because if my failings,” he said, his eyes filling with tears. “The public has refused to hear me.”

That failure became impossible to ignore last week when he reneged on a pledge to move the Futenma marine base off the southern island of Okinawa to another part of Japan.

Under pressure from Washington, he was forced to accept a 2006 agreement to relocate the base from its urban location to a remote site on the island’s north coast – a move that infuriated local politicians and residents.

Successor faces tough agenda

As Hatoyama delivered his mea culpa, speculation mounted over who would succeed him. Reports said the DPJ would choose a new leader on Friday and name a new cabinet next Monday.

Hatoyama’s replacement will have to address deepening economic problems, mend fences with the US over the base dispute, and bring stability to politics after four years of turmoil and indecision. Hatoyama is Japan’s fourth prime minister in as many years.

The front-runner is Naoto Kan, a combative former health minister who took on bureaucrats over an HIV-tainted blood scandal in the mid-1990s, while representing a minor party in a Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition.

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