Prime Minister Naoto Kan's hoped-for exit by month's end got new legs Wednesday, after a Lower House committee OK'd a key bond-issuance bill for passage later in the month and Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers began laying the groundwork for a race to elect a new leader.
Kan had suggested he would quit soon after securing Diet passage of the debt bill, which allows the government to issue deficit-covering bonds to finance 40 percent of spending in fiscal 2011, and another bill promoting the use of renewable energy. The energy bill is also on course for Diet passage by the end of the month, lawmakers said.
The debt bill was expected to be approved by the Lower House on Thursday and sent to the Upper House.