【英语国际】鸠山由纪夫因支持率下滑宣布辞职

A tearful Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said he will quit less than nine months after taking office, a dramatic downfall that could fray ties with the U.S. and frustrate other allies seeking greater cooperation and leadership from Tokyo.

The Japanese leader's sudden resignation could stall a controversial deal he announced just last Friday with President Barack Obama to keep a large Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa, an agreement that both leaders had said was essential to show a unified front against regional security threats like North Korea and China-but proved deeply unpopular in Japan.

Mr. Hatoyama's already-low poll ratings fell further in recent days in response to the pact, and one of his ruling coalition partners left the government in protest. The prime minister had broken one of his key campaign promises in agreeing to the deal, and he cited his failure to keep that pledge as the primary reason for his resignation during his sudden Wednesday morning Tokyo announcement.

'I sincerely hope people will understand the agonizing choice I had to make,' Mr. Hatoyama said, with tears welling up in his eyes. 'I knew we had to maintain a trusting relationship with the U.S. at any cost, while seeking cooperation with' his domestic political partners. 'I think I have to take responsibility' for the fracturing of the political coalition that resulted from the deal with Washington.

Beyond the military agreement, Mr. Hatoyama's imminent departure shows just the difficulty of transforming Japan's stagnant politics and policymaking, an ambitious goal he and his Democratic Party of Japan had set when winning a landslide election last August, ending half a century of near-unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

Japan's two decades of slow growth have long been blamed on a lack of credible political leadership able to craft and sell to the public dramatic new tax, spending, and regulatory policies seen as needed to jumpstart the world's second-largest economy. Supporters at home and abroad hoped Mr. Hatoyama could begin to chart that course and he took office with popularity above 70%.

But he has proved just as weak as the string of LDP leaders who proceeded him, struggling to reign in Japan's large public debt, and zigzagging over several months over how to handle the question of the American bases. His popularity had fallen to about 20% in recent weeks, dragged down both by his perceived lack of leadership -- and also old-style LDP-type money scandals that have tainted him and one his chief aides.

Mr. Hatoyama cited the scandals as another reason for his resignation, and announced that his chief political strategist, DPJ secretary-general Ichiro Ozawa, was resigning along with him.

Speaking to a gathering of Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers, an at-times tearful Mr. Hatoyama said the two main reasons for his resignation were his botched handling of moving a U.S. Marine base in the southern island of Okinawa, and a series of political funding scandals involving him and DPJ Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa.

Mr. Hatoyama said he had also asked Mr. Ozawa to resign and that Mr. Ozawa had agreed to step down.

The Hatoyama administration's recent support ratings have sunk to below 20% in some media polls, compared with above 70% when the Democratic government started its term last September.

The Nikkei Stock Average trimmed earlier losses immediately after the news. 'An unpopular prime minister will leave, so the market should now start to get over negative political factors,' said Yoshinori Nagano, senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management.

日本首相鸠山由纪夫(Yukio Hatoyama)含泪宣布他将辞职，此时距他上台还不足九个月。这一戏剧性的收场可能影响与美国的关系，其他寻求与日本加强合作以及让日本担任更重要的领导角色的盟国也可能感到失望。

鸠山由纪夫上周与美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)一同宣布了一项引起争议的协议，将保留日本南部冲绳的大型美国海军基地。两位领导人都表示这份协议是必要的，可展示两国结成统一阵线，以针对朝鲜和中国等地区内的安全威胁，但协议在日本极度不受欢迎。鸠山由纪夫突然辞职可能令这份协议受阻。

鸠山由纪夫的民意支持率已然低迷，近日更因该协议而进一步下滑，他的一位联合执政伙伴也愤而辞职以示抗议。鸠山由纪夫同意这份协议，打破了竞选时的有关此事的重大许诺，而他周三上午在东京突然宣布辞职时也将未能践行这一诺言作为一个辞职的主要原因。

鸠山由纪夫含着泪水说，他真诚希望民众理解其必须做出的痛苦抉择，在与国内政治伙伴合作时，他认识到日本必须不惜一切代价维持与美国的互信关系。他说，执政联盟因与美国的协议而破裂，自己必须为此承担责任。

除了军事协议，鸠山由纪夫突然辞职也显示出转变日本僵化的政治和决策过程的难度，他与日本民主党去年8月以压倒性的优势赢得大选时设立了这个雄心勃勃的目标。去年的大选终结了日本自民党(Liberal Democratic Party)半个世纪都几乎未曾中断的统治。

日本经济增长持续20年低迷，一直以来都被归因于缺乏可靠的政治领导层，没能制定并推行为公众接受的力度较大的政策，包括开征新税、开支以及监管政策，这些政策被认为是重新激活日本这个世界第二大经济体所需要的。日本国内和海外的支持者本来希望鸠山由纪夫能够开始制定这类方针，他上台时支持率一度超过70%。

但他最终的表现与之前的一连串自民党领导人一样软弱无力，极力控制日本高企的公共债务，在如何处理美军基地的问题上也是几个月都未能取得进展。最近几周他的支持率已经下滑到20%左右，原因在于人们认为他缺乏领导力，同时他与一位主要的副手也陷入了之前困扰自民党领导人的那种政治献金丑闻。

鸠山由纪夫将献金丑闻作为辞职的另一个原因，并宣布他的头号智囊、日本民主党干事长小泽一郎(Ichiro Ozawa)将与他一道辞职。

鸠山由纪夫在日本民主党的集会上发表讲话时多次眼泪汪汪，他说自己辞职的两个主要原因是，未能很好地处理日本南部的冲绳美国海军基地搬迁事宜，以及牵涉到他本人和日本民主党干事长小泽一郎(Ichiro Ozawa)的政治献金丑闻。

鸠山由纪夫说，他同时要求小泽一郎辞职，后者已经同意。

一些媒体调查显示鸠山政府最近的支持率已下降至不足20%，而本届政府去年9月刚上台时支持率超过70%。

消息宣布后，日经平均指数(Nikkei Stock Average)马上从早盘的下跌中小步恢复。大和投资管理(Daiwa Asset Management)资深策略师Yoshinori Nagano说，不得人心的首相要下台了，因此市场现在应当会开始摆脱不利的政治因素影响。