TOKYO: Key members of Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Cabinet rallied around their unpopular leader Friday, brushing off calls from the opposition that he step down and saying Japan must put politics aside and unite behind stimulus measures to bolster its teetering economy.
Aso has been battered by low public support ratings, a dogged opposition that has called him incompetent and the resignation this week of his finance minister amid allegations, he was intoxicated at a news conference following last week’s G-7 summit in Rome. The prime minister’s troubles have fueled demands he resign and hold elections for the lower house of parliament to prove his long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party still has the mandate of the voters.
Recent polls indicate that if such elections were held now, Aso’s party would suffer major losses. In an attempt to quell the criticism, several of Aso’s top Cabinet members expressed their support for him on Friday and said political squabbling should not be allowed to derail important bills aimed at reviving Japan’s stagnating economy.
source : jang.com.pk
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