Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he would not dissolve the Lower House and go to the people over the future of Japan's energy policy.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he would not dissolve the Lower House and go to the people over the future of Japan's energy policy.
Kan, who had been rumored to be considering the move, told a plenary session of the Lower House on July 8: "I think it would be desirable if a decision on future energy policy was made on the basis of the will of the public, but I have no intention whatsoever of going to the people ... myself."
Kan was responding to a question by Mito Kakizawa, a lawmaker from Your Party.
On June 28, Kan said the "largest issue of contention in the next Diet election will probably be the future direction of national policy on energy."
The remark was interpreted as a hint that Kan could call a general election on the nuclear issue. On June 29, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano dismissed the idea.