Japan PM won't quit over censure motion: spokesman

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TOKYO, June 11 (AFP): Japan's opposition Wednesday introduced a censure motion in parliament against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in what is set to be a major embarrassment for the unpopular leader. The motion was submitted before the upper house, which is controlled by the opposition, and was expected to be approved later in the day.

Chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura said in response to the motion that Fukuda has no intention to quit.

"The prime minister isn't thinking of dissolving parliament or resigning. We are not in such a situation," Machimura told a news conference as the upper house held a session to censure Fukuda.

The motion "will be the first in history to pass the upper house," said Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party. "The Fukuda cabinet must take this seriously."

The censure motion has no legal force and Fukuda has already made clear that he has no intention to call early general elections, which do not need to be held before September 2009.

But with the ruling coalition set to retaliate with a confidence motion, the showdown threatens to further stall parliamentary proceedings in the world's second largest economy.

Japan's parliament has been deadlocked for nearly a year since the opposition won control of the less powerful upper house in a landmark defeat for Fukuda's long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.