... or why I don't drink at family functions...
Japan’s Finance Minister Says He Will Resign
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:06 p.m. ET
TOKYO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said on Tuesday he would resign after coming under fire for his behaviour at a G7 news conference, dealing a fresh blow to unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Nakagawa, who denied being drunk at the news conference, told reporters he intended to resign after the government's budget is passed by the lower house of parliament.
The timeframe was unclear, but an extra budget related bill is stuck in the upper house, while the budget for the 2009/10 fiscal year, which starts on April 1, is being debated in the lower house.
Aso asked his close ally Nakagawa to stay in his post on Monday, but Kyodo news agency earlier quoted a senior executive of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as saying the minister should quit before the day was over.
"He should resign by the end of today, taking responsibility for showing disgraceful behaviour to the world," the lawmaker, who was not identified by name, was quoted as saying.
Emboldened opposition parties had been set to grill Nakagawa again in parliament and have said they would submit a censure motion to the upper house, which they control, if his answers fail to satisfy. A censure is non-binding, but a previous cabinet minister quit after a similar resolution.
The fuss over Nakagawa's behaviour at the G7 news conference comes as Aso's public support is plummeting -- below 10 percent in one survey published on Sunday -- ahead of an election that must be held no later than October and as the economy sinks deeper into recession.
Surveys show the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan has a good shot at ousting Aso's Liberal Democrats, ending more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule.
Consumer Affairs Minister Seiko Noda said the fate of Nakagawa, who has blamed his performance on too much cold medicine, should be decided by the minister or Aso himself.
"It was a shocking video if one didn't know the circumstances," she said of the video of the Group of Seven news conference in Rome, where Nakagawa slurred his words and appeared to fall asleep at one point.
Nakagawa, 55, repeated on Tuesday that he had not done more than sip some wine before the news conference at the end of the Group of Seven meeting of finance leaders in Rome on Saturday.
He said cold medicine had affected his behaviour and he would submit a doctor's note about the drugs he took on the trip.
Aso is trying to enact an extra budget for the fiscal year ending on March 31 as well as a record 88.5 trillion yen ($965 billion) budget for the year to March 2010 to help stimulate the economy, now sinking deeper into recession.
Japan’s Finance Minister Says He Will Resign
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:06 p.m. ET
TOKYO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said on Tuesday he would resign after coming under fire for his behaviour at a G7 news conference, dealing a fresh blow to unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Nakagawa, who denied being drunk at the news conference, told reporters he intended to resign after the government's budget is passed by the lower house of parliament.
The timeframe was unclear, but an extra budget related bill is stuck in the upper house, while the budget for the 2009/10 fiscal year, which starts on April 1, is being debated in the lower house.
Aso asked his close ally Nakagawa to stay in his post on Monday, but Kyodo news agency earlier quoted a senior executive of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as saying the minister should quit before the day was over.
"He should resign by the end of today, taking responsibility for showing disgraceful behaviour to the world," the lawmaker, who was not identified by name, was quoted as saying.
Emboldened opposition parties had been set to grill Nakagawa again in parliament and have said they would submit a censure motion to the upper house, which they control, if his answers fail to satisfy. A censure is non-binding, but a previous cabinet minister quit after a similar resolution.
The fuss over Nakagawa's behaviour at the G7 news conference comes as Aso's public support is plummeting -- below 10 percent in one survey published on Sunday -- ahead of an election that must be held no later than October and as the economy sinks deeper into recession.
Surveys show the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan has a good shot at ousting Aso's Liberal Democrats, ending more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule.
Consumer Affairs Minister Seiko Noda said the fate of Nakagawa, who has blamed his performance on too much cold medicine, should be decided by the minister or Aso himself.
"It was a shocking video if one didn't know the circumstances," she said of the video of the Group of Seven news conference in Rome, where Nakagawa slurred his words and appeared to fall asleep at one point.
Nakagawa, 55, repeated on Tuesday that he had not done more than sip some wine before the news conference at the end of the Group of Seven meeting of finance leaders in Rome on Saturday.
He said cold medicine had affected his behaviour and he would submit a doctor's note about the drugs he took on the trip.
Aso is trying to enact an extra budget for the fiscal year ending on March 31 as well as a record 88.5 trillion yen ($965 billion) budget for the year to March 2010 to help stimulate the economy, now sinking deeper into recession.
