

Japan’s opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) plans to submit a motion of no confidence against the cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Wednesday.
The LDP and its ally New Komeito are expected to jointly submit the motion after the day’s planned parliamentary debate. A vote on the motion is expected to be held on Thursday.
The opposition accused Kan’s government of a slow and inappropriate response to the magnitude—9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 and the subsequent nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The March disaster left more than 15,200 people dead and 8,500 missing while more than 102,000evacuees are still living in emergency shelters more than two months after the quake.
The Fukushima plant was crippled by the disaster and has leaked radioactive substances into the environment ever since.
Mr. Kan has been faced criticism from within his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), with some lawmakers hinting at support for a motion of no confidence.
Mr. Kan’s predecessor Yukio Hatoyama met the Premier Tuesday night and reportedly asked him to step down voluntarily.
But Kan, who took office nearly one year ago, rejected the request, the Nikkei business daily said.
The opposition needs the support of some 80 DPJ lawmakers to have a motion clear the 480-seat lower house.
If the motion is passed, the cabinet will be forced to resign en masse or dissolve the house for a snap election.
Related Stories
- AIADMK gives DMDK time
- PM uses speech to make connections
- Modi coming to kick-start NDA’s poll campaign in State
- DMDK calls for emergency meeting on March 5; AIADMK remains hopeful of tie-up
- Opposition doubting armed forces, helping Pakistan: Modi
- DMK, DMDK pact unlikely
- HC holds IAS officer guilty of contempt, orders imprisonment
- ‘Joined alliance because PMK was unsuccessful in past 4 polls’
- AIADMK, BJP regimes double engines, to drive growth: Piyush Goyal
- Madras HC pulls up TN over egg procurement
- » Business
- Mukesh Ambani's RIL buys out British toy-maker Hamleys for £68 million
- ‘Firms missing from database will not affect GDP calculation
- Jet collapse: pilots ask PM to probe Etihad’s ‘role’
- Hospitality sector set for boom after a decade’s lull
- ‘Jet’s lenders gave paltry sums in instalments’
- » Technology
- Bank credit grows 13.2% in FY19
- Income support, UDAY driving fiscal slippages: RBI
- Apple to tap India ‘with all its might’: Cook
- Why Jet’s fall isn’t good news for rivals
- Axis Bank back to black with ₹1,505 crore net
- » Sports
- IPL qualifier 2: Delhi Capitals’ energy and Chennai Super Kings’ experience on collision course
- Tottenham stuns Ajax 3-2 to reach Champions League final
- IPL 2019: Captain cool yet again turns the match CSK’s way
- IPL 2019: Capitals seal playoffs spot, reverse puts RCB almost on the brink
- IPL 2019: Parag and Archer’s knocks eclipse Karthik’s brilliant effort
- » Cinema
- I’m not sure if I will contest Producer Council elections: Vishal
- Vidya Balan to play Math genius Shakuntala Devi in her next film
- ‘Devarattam’ review: a violent film where the violence serves no purpose
- Avengers: Endgame’ review: the franchise gets an emotional, bang-for-buck farewell
- 'Avengers: Endgame’s Kollywood connect