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Japanese lawmaker quits struggling PM's party
By JAY ALABASTER,Associated Press Writer AP - 2 hours 14 minutes ago
TOKYO - A former Japanese minister said Monday he was leaving Prime Minister Taro Aso's ruling party, underscoring dissent within the party and dealing a blow to the ailing government as public support plunged to new lows in media polls.
Yoshimi Watanabe, former financial services minister and a vocal critic of Aso's recent policies, said he would break away from the Liberal Democratic Party, after his policy proposals met the prime minister's rejection.
"I'm leaving LDP (Tuesday)," Watanabe told reporters Monday night. "(Aso) should immediately stop making policies only to hold on to power."
Watanabe predicted a mass exodus from Aso's party, saying many of his colleague support him.
"I'll take the lead and start a national movement from outside," he said.
Watanabe has urged Aso to abandon unpopular economic policies and quickly hold parliamentary elections.
Aso brushed off the warning and rejected calls by emboldened opposition parties for his resignation.
"I will take (the falling support) seriously," Aso told a televised interview with Fuji television. "But if you say I should resign right now, I dispute that call completely."
Earlier Monday, polls by the Asahi newspaper and Kyodo News agency showed Aso's approval rating had fallen to 19 percent, while a Yomiuri newspaper poll put it at 20 percent. The surveys, which showed increasing support for the main opposition party, mark Aso's lowest results yet.
Aso assumed office in September as the global economic crisis began to unfold. There was wide speculation he would immediately call snap elections, but he has said he must first pass legislation to boost Japan's economy, which is mired in a recession.
Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said Watanabe's departure from LDP "highlighted the terminal condition of the ailing government."
Opposition Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa last week renewed his call for Aso to step down. The latest polls show support for Ozawa, who would likely be chosen as prime minister if his party seized power in parliament, is stronger than that for Aso.
As is customary with Japanese media polls, none of the surveys, conducted on eligible voters by telephone, provided a margin of error.
A poll the size of Asahi's survey, which had 2,138 responses, would generally have a 2 percent margin of error. Polls the size of the Yomiuri's survey, which had 1,056 respondents, and the one done by Kyodo News, which had 1,025, would generally have a 3 percent margin of error.
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.
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