Pressure to dump Japan PM grows within ruling party

TOKYO (Reuters) - A group of Japanese ruling party lawmakers criticised Prime Minister Naoto Kan Tuesday for his response to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis, adding to pressure on the beleaguered premier to step down.

Kan resigning might make it easier for the ruling party to form a coalition with the opposition, breaking a parliamentary deadlock hampering Japan's efforts to get to grips with its biggest reconstruction project since the post-war period.

But the premier -- already Japan's fifth leader in as many years -- is unlikely to step aside any time soon.

While parliament is expected to pass an initial 4 trillion yen (29 billion pounds) extra budget for disaster relief in early May, that is just a downpayment on the expected cost of rebuilding in Japan's northeast.

Further spending is likely to be financed by some combination of fresh borrowing and taxes, and the debate on the mix has barely begun.

"The opposition is saying it will take a confrontational stance. If bond bills and the important second and third extra budgets do not move at all, then the ruling party will certainly be criticised," Kenji Yamaoka, a DPJ vice president, told dozens of lawmakers at a meeting held to discuss the government's response to the disaster.

"The next elections are national ones. If we go on as now, the DPJ will be destroyed," he added.

Sunday, Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) lost seven out of 10 mayoral races where it faced off directly with the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). It also lagged behind in a spate of city assembly elections around the country, although the LDP itself lost seats.

No national election has to be held until 2013.

Kan Tuesday told parliament that voters were already frustrated with his party before the March 11 disaster, and he defended his cabinet's response to the humanitarian and nuclear crisis.

"The election result was more a reflection of how people thought we weren't meeting their expectations after we took power (in 2009)," he said. "I don't necessarily think that this (disaster response) was the reason for our election loss."

Yamaoka, who is close to Kan's rival Ichiro Ozawa, a scandal-tainted former DPJ leader, also said the ruling party must think about how a coalition could be formed and called for a partywide meeting to discuss the topic. Japanese media have said such a meeting could be used to call for Kan's resignation.

The DPJ controls parliament's lower house but needs opposition support to pass bills because it lacks a majority in the upper chamber, which can block legislation.

Public opinion polls have shown that a majority want the DPJ to form a coalition with the LDP. Kan has already invited the LDP to team up, but the LDP rejected the idea.

Surveys have also shown that while most people want a new prime minister, many would prefer Kan to stay until the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is resolved, which is likely to take many more months at least.

The lack of an obvious successor to Kan may also be working in his favour. Seiji Maehara, previously seen as a frontrunner to replace the prime minister, had to step down as foreign minister over a funding scandal in early March.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota and Chisa Fujioka)