Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, officially launched the opposition's battle Wednesday against Yasuo Fukuda in the Diet, pressing the new prime minister to dissolve the Lower House and call a general election.
As he stepped up to the plate as the DPJ's lead-off hitter to quiz and criticize the policy speech Fukuda delivered Monday, Hatoyama first took a swing at Fukuda's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, for "abandoning his government suddenly."
Hatoyama said Fukuda should dissolve the Lower House because of the results of the July Upper House election, in which the DPJ scored a major victory.