Tuesday February 17, 07:43 AM
Japan's finance minister to resign over G7 debacle
By Hiroshi Hiyama
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's finance minister said Tuesday he would quit after triggering a political storm by appearing to be drunk at a Group of Seven meeting on the global economic crisis.
Shoichi Nakagawa, a close ally of unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso, was incoherent and slurred his speech at a news conference on Saturday after the G7 talks in Rome, prompting calls for his sacking.
He later said he had sipped some wine with lunch but blamed jet lag and cold medicine for what appeared to be drunken behaviour.
Nakagawa said he would step down after key budget bills clear parliament, expected in the coming weeks, forcing Aso to find a new finance minister for Asia's biggest economy in the midst of a worsening recession.
"I want to apologise once again as I caused tremendous bother to people," Nakagawa told reporters.
He said he would voluntarily check into hospital to rest after being diagnosed with a cold and fatigue.
"I'll do my best to fulfil my duties for my remaining days. I hope the Japanese economy will recover as early as possible," he said.
Aso will ask Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano to double as finance minister, Kyodo News quoted unnamed government sources as saying, although there was no official confirmation.
Nakagawa, 55, has made no secret about his fondness for drinking, telling reporters on Monday: "I think I can hold quite a bit" of alcohol.
The Fuji tabloid quoted the minister as saying in an interview that he had downed three or four gin and tonics on the plane to Rome, followed by two glasses of wine with dinner Friday and two more gins afterwards.
The opposition threatened a censure motion against Nakagawa, while even some fellow cabinet members openly criticised the minister.
"Looking after one's own health condition is part of the responsibility of a politician," health minister Yoichi Masuzoe said.
Transport minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko said: "I feel bad for him, but he shouldn't have spoken" at the press conference.
Television footage of the press conference was shown on the national news on the same day that official data showed Japan's economy shrank at the fastest pace in almost 35 years in the last quarter of 2008.
His decision to step down sent ripples through financial markets as the Nikkei (news) stock index slid to its lowest level in more than three months.
"His resignation undermines Japan's international credibility, which is already viewed negatively by investors due to bad economic data and the unpopularity of Prime Minister Taro Aso's government," said Daisuke Uno, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
The Aso government's support rating has plunged below 10 percent, according to one poll taken before the latest political storm, battered by concerns over his handling of the economy, visits to swanky hotel bars and repeated gaffes.
"The resignation will have an enormous impact on the Aso cabinet," said Susumu Takahashi, a professor of politics at the University of Tokyo.
"The cabinet's remaining days are numbered. The focus has shifted to who will succeed Aso," Takahashi said.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been in power for almost all of the past half century but its grip on power has weakened and Japan has had three premiers since late 2006. Aso must call a general election by September.
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