Naoto Kan demands anti-nuclear LDP politicians make their views public

[kristopher]

Naoto Kan demands anti-nuclear LDP politicians make their views public
Friday, 13 December, 2013, 2:11am
Julian Ryall in Tokyo


Naoto Kan

Naoto Kan, the former Japanese prime minister who has become a vigorous campaigner against nuclear power, yesterday called on members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who share his convictions to state them openly.

Leader of the nation on March 11, 2011, when a massive earthquake struck northeast Japan and triggered the second-worst nuclear accident in history, Kan stepped down in August of that year and has since travelled the globe promoting his vision of a world that does not require nuclear energy.

Even though he is no longer in government, after his Democratic Party of Japan suffered a drubbing in a general election last December, Kan continues to push his belief that humankind cannot completely control nuclear energy and that we therefore need to harness power from renewable sources to ensure our future.

Many people in Japan share that opinion, he believes, including a substantial proportion of the LDP. But they are being prevented from speaking their minds, he charges.

"I would say that more than 50 per cent of LDP members share my position on nuclear energy," Kan said ...

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1379345/naoto-kan-demands-anti-nuclear-ldp-politicians-make-their-views-public

[kristopher]

1. Former Japanese leader firm on nuclear energy

Former Japanese leader firm on nuclear energy
12.12.2013 Julian Ryall, Tokyo

http://www.dw.de/image/0,,16661795_303,00.jpg

Naoto Kan, who was Japanese PM when the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake hit and crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant, remains in politics but has only one aim now: to see every last atomic energy plant shut down.

In the dark days of late March and April 2011, when the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant threatened to escalate into an even more dramatic catastrophe, the entire nation hung on Naoto Kan's words as he addressed televised press conferences with the latest updates from the wrecked plant.

Today he speaks to groups of maybe a couple of dozen people at small-scale town-hall meetings around the country. But his theme at these talks is consistent: He is asked to appear to encourage local people and town councils to stand firm in their opposition to utility companies restarting nuclear power plants in the neighborhood.

Resisting the return of nuclear power has become his sole aim in politics now, he said suring an interview in Tokyo on Thursday, December 12.

"I was recently in Hakodate...

http://www.dw.de/former-japanese-leader-firm-on-nuclear-energy/a-17290344