Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's scandal-tainted ruling party was set to suffer a new blow on Friday with the speaker of parliament's Upper under pressure to resign over allegations an aide took kickbacks.
Kyodo news agency said Upper House speaker Yukata Inoue -- who has denied the allegations -- had decided to step down after threats by opposition parties to boycott business in the chamber.
The affair is the latest in a rash of scandals in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that have sparked a steep slide in Koizumi's popularity ratings -- his main weapon against LDP old guard rivals who oppose his agenda for economic and political reform.
Inoue, in a closed-door session with ruling and opposition lawmakers on Thursday, denied allegations by a magazine this month that an aide had received hefty kickbacks from a construction firm in connection with a public works project.
Top government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference that the impact on parliamentary business could not be ignored.
"We expect the Upper House to make every effort to avoid confusion," Fukuda said.
Echoing the party's typical official stance in such matters, LDP Secretary General Taku Yamasaki told a news conference the decision on whether to resign was up to Inoue, but media said Upper House heavyweight Mikio Aoki had met Koizumi to discuss the issue.
Koizumi soared to power one year ago, buoyed by promises to clean up the long-ruling party and revive the stagnant economy.
But doubts over his commitment to reform, the sacking in January of his popular foreign minister and the LDP scandals have slashed Koizumi's ratings in opinion polls to close to 40 percent from the heady 90 percent seen when he first took office.
(China Daily April 19, 2002)
