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Japan's PNP minister to resign, but party remains in coalition

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-11 02:18

TOKYO - Japanese People's New Party (PNP) chief Shizuka Kamei said early Friday to resign as member of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet, but his party will keep in the ruling coalition with the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Kyodo news agency reported.

Kamei said at a press conference at the party's headquarters that he has decided to step down in protest at the DPJ's failure to fulfill an accord between the two parties over a postal reform bill, Kyoto said.

"A promise between the two parties has been broken, so I have decided to leave the Cabinet to take responsibility, as leader of the PNP, for failing to implement it," Kamei said.

He was talking about an accord between the DPJ and the PNP to swiftly enact a bill designed to scale down postal privatization.

Prime Minister Kan made a phone call to Kamei to persuade him to stay in the Cabinet, but Kamei declined, he told the press conference.

Kamei said he hopes that PNP Secretary General Shozaburo Jimi will succeed him as postal reform minister and financial services minister. But Kamei said he will remain the head of the PNP.

The PNP and DPJ agreed that the ruling alliance will put priority on deliberating the postal reform bill at an extraordinary Diet session that will follow an upper house election expected on July 11.