Shizuka Kamei, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday that Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori should implement the ruling coalition's emergency economic package before the party holds the election to pick his successor.
"Prime Minister Mori should decide on his own when to call the presidential election. If the prime minister thinks it is better to let someone other than him to do it (implement the package), he will be irresponsible," Kamei said on a Fuji TV program.
The remarks by Kamei, who is chairman of the LDP's Policy Research Council, contrast with the view within the LDP that its presidential poll should be called before the package is set in motion.