Japan's PM warned of collapse by party comrade

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso came under fire Friday from a senior member of his party who warned that his government was in danger of collapse with dwindling public support.
"The Aso government stands on the brink in terms of politics and economic policies," Nobuteru Ishihara, Deputy Secretary-General of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told a fund-raising party, according to Japanese media.
"About 70-80 per cent of the LDP members of parliament have doubts if they can remain a ruling party after going through an election under the Aso government," Ishihara added.
It was one of the most vocal criticisms of Aso from within the ruling party since September when he became Japan's fourth premier in just two years.
Aso has seen his leadership erode due to his numerous verbal gaffes and worries over his ability to guide the economy through a recession. The LDP picked him as its leader for his straight-talking quality which had initially amused the public.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly resisted opposition calls for an early election before the lower house's term ends next September.
"I guess about 60-70 per cent of the people are inclined to think they can let the (Opposition) Democratic Party run the government," Ishihara said. "We will tread a thorny path in the election battle."
He has put off a national election for now, citing the global financial crisis, saying a bigger priority is to tackle the economic slump by pushing through a 300-billion-dollar package to try to reinvigorate the economy.
The LDP holds 304 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives - 63pc - thanks to its resounding victory in the last general election in 2005 under the then LDP president and prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The conservative pro-US party, which has dominated national politics since its foundation in 1955, except for a year in the opposition bloc, is projected by various media polls to lose its majority in the key chamber of parliament.
Public support for Aso's cabinet has tumbled to 28pc, down from 45pc shortly after he took office, according to a telephone survey of 1,000 adults published on Monday by private broadcast network FNN.
Aso, the grandson of a former post-war prime minister and a scion of a mining empire, has surprised the nation with his plain remarks widely seen as insulting to doctors and the parents of schoolchildren.
He was forced to apologise last week after criticising the elderly for not staying fit, risking a backlash in the rapidly greying country.