TOKYO: Japan’s prime minister accepted his finance minister’s resignation offer because of poor health, despite earlier asking him to stay at the helm of the world’s number two economy, Kyodo News said.During talks earlier in the day, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had said he wanted Hirohisa Fujii to stay in the cabinet but “the government eventually decided to accept Fujii’s resignation as he was adamant,” Kyodo said, citing a ruling party lawmaker who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Fujii, 77, was admitted to hospital on Dec 28 due to high blood pressure and fatigue, saying he was exhausted after weeks of hard work on the national budget for the next financial year.
The veteran lawmaker was picked by incoming premier Hatoyama in September to steer Asia’s biggest economy out of its worst recession in decades, returning to a post he held briefly in the early 1990s.
Japan’s economy returned to growth in the second quarter of 2009 after a severe year-long recession, but renewed deflation and weak domestic demand are major concerns for policymakers.
Since being admitted to hospital Fujii has resumed some of his duties but said he would respect the advice of his doctors about whether to return to work full time.
The finance minister had been expected to return to hospital after attending a Cabinet meeting Tuesday and his regular press conference yesterday was cancelled, a finance ministry spokesman said.
Hatoyama met Fujii earlier in the day to discuss his health and had told reporters he wanted him to remain in the key cabinet position.
“He (Fujii) told me that he was undergoing tests in hospital and that his doctors had yet to reach a final conclusion,” Hatoyama said.
“He has been carrying on and I want him to carry on further. It is a matter of course. It was not that I persuaded him to stay on,” he said.
Earlier in the day Fujii declined to comment on whether he might step down, saying he was still waiting for test results.
“The doctors’ decision will come soon,” he said at a press conference after a regular Cabinet meeting. “I will respect the doctors’ decision.”
Asked whether he would consider leaving his post if the test results were not positive, Fujii said the question was too hypothetical to answer.
One of the few members of the current cabinet with previous government experience, Fujii had planned to retire from politics but was persuaded by Hatoyama to stay on to pursue an agenda of slashing public sector waste.
A law graduate of the elite University of Tokyo, Fujii spent more than 20 years with the finance ministry before turning his hand to politics, winning a seat in parliament for the first time in 1977.
His resignation would be another setback for Hatoyama, who has seen a sharp drop in his approval ratings since he took office in September, with polls indicating voters worry he lacks leadership. — AFP