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M. Continuo

Japan PM says no plans to call snap general election


    TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Monday that he had no plans to call a snap general election, after his ruling party was thrashed in a vote for the country's upper house of parliament.

    "Only about one month has passed since the launch of my administration and I want the chance to firmly manage this administration with the people of Japan watching," Kan told reporters.

    Asked if he would call a snap general election, he said: "I'm not thinking about that at all."

    Voters dealt Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) a stinging rebuke in the upper house poll on Sunday, depriving it and its tiny ally of a majority less than a year after the Democrats swept to power with promises of change.

    (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto)