Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Saturday effectively expressed his intention to resign to top executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, possibly after the fiscal 2001 budget passes the Diet next month.

During a Saturday evening meeting with five LDP executives, Mori said the LDP presidential election scheduled for September should be brought forward to ensure the party's victory in the Upper House election in July.

In Japanese politics, that amounts to an offer to resign as the winner of the LDP elections is effectively guaranteed the prime ministership because of the LDP's numbers in the powerful Lower House.

Now that Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has made his intentions clear, attention among political circles will focus on when and how the LDP will select its new leader.

LDP leadership will likely hold an election in April to choose Mori's successor once the prime minister officially declares his plan to resign after the fiscal 2001 budget and related bills clear the Diet.

Hiromu Nonaka, 75, former secretary general of the LDP, is considered a front-runner to replace Mori, 63, along with Junichiro Koizumi, former health and welfare minister and Ryutaro Hashimoto, a former prime minister and current minister in charge of administrative reform.

But Nonaka categorically denied any intention to succeed Mori, saying his job is to lend a hand and help restore trust in Japanese politics.

Mori's planned meetings with U.S. President George W. Bush on March 19 and with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 25 are thus expected to be the final major events marking his leadership.

Junior LDP lawmakers and representatives of the party's local chapters are calling for a full-scale leadership election involving not only Diet members but the party's rank-and-file.

However, top party executives plan to restrict the voters to Diet members and representatives from prefectural chapters, saying a full-scale race will take too long to prepare.

Mori will officially step down after the new LDP chief is elected.

LDP elders hope to select a single candidate through negotiations among leaders of major factions as well as its coalition partners -- New Komeito and the New Conservative Party.

However, such maneuvering could draw criticism that the LDP is again picking its leader through backroom politics -- as it did in selecting Mori last April.

So far, former LDP policy chief Taku Yamasaki has indicated that he may challenge a candidate chosen behind closed doors by the party elders.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, who was also present at the 50-minute meeting at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, said whether or not Mori runs in the next party election depends on the "political situation."

LDP Secretary General Makoto Koga said the date for the party election has not been decided upon. He said the timing would take into account the public's perception of Mori's responsibility for recent political turmoil.

"Critics (of Mori) should understand" the message he sent at the Saturday meeting, another LDP member who attended the gathering said on condition of anonymity, admitting Mori's remark was a de facto expression of his intention to resign.

Takenori Kanzaki, leader of junior coalition partner New Komeito, said after receiving a phone call from Mori later in the night: "I take (Mori's decision) seriously. I would regard it as his de facto announcement that he will step down."

Fukuda and Koga, however, both denied that Mori's remark was meant to announce his resignation.

Fukuda quoted Mori as saying he wanted to complete urgent tasks facing the government, which include the passage of the fiscal 2001 budget through the Diet, the nation's economic recovery and diplomatic meetings with Russia and the United States slated for this month.

Diet sources said Mori's actual resignation is expected in April after the fiscal 2001 state budget and its related bills clear the Diet.

Mori has been facing calls from his own ruling bloc to announce his resignation before an LDP convention slated for Tuesday.

Criticism against Mori intensified after his approval rating dipped below 10 percent in late February.

Koizumi supports Mori

Former health minister Junichiro Koizumi, who is widely seen as one of the most likely candidates to succeed Mori, told reporters Saturday evening that he will continue to put all his energy into supporting Mori.

Koizumi, who serves as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party faction led by Mori, said the prime minister will "do his best to ensure Diet approval of the (fiscal 2001) budget and other important legislation."

Asked if he is ready to run in the LDP presidential race to choose a new party leader, Koizumi said, "All I can do is to support Mr. Mori so that he can fulfill his duties."

Transparency needed

SAPPORO (Kyodo) Renegade Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Koichi Kato said Saturday that party brass should scrap the practice of picking prime ministers in backroom deals among power brokers.

"The process of naming the successor is more important than who will succeed" Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, Kato said in a speech here. "The person should not be chosen through backroom deals."

Kato, a former LDP secretary general, cited a closed-door meeting that took place in a Tokyo hotel in April 2000 between four LDP heavyweights who picked Mori to replace then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. Obuchi had collapsed shortly before from a stroke and died the following month.

"The problem with the decision-making process to settle on Prime Minister Mori was that an internal election committee (for an LDP presidential election) was not convened," Kato said.

The LDP president usually doubles as prime minister due to the LDP's control of the powerful House of Representatives.

Kato said he hopes "the leadership will form a committee to decide how to mount a prime ministerial election and take proper steps and procedures to accept candidates" as pressure on Mori to resign has grown.

Kato, 61, did not support Mori in no-confidence motions against the Cabinet lodged in November and this month.

Opposition outcries

The opposition camp on Saturday evening called for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and is considering submitting a censure motion against him in the Upper House.

Opposition leaders plan to question Mori during Monday's Upper House Budget Committee session on what his statement to LDP executives Saturday evening indicated.

"The way a prime minister is chosen and then dumped all behind closed doors is a complete denial of parliamentary democracy," Yukio Hatoyama, president of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters.

Hatoyama indicated his party may not cooperate with Diet proceedings if Mori remains at the government helm without clearly indicating his intentions.

Noting the turmoil facing the Mori administration, Liberal Party Secretary General Hirohisa Fujii said, "What the people want is not just Mori's resignation but an end to the LDP's way of politics."

"(Mori's staying on as prime minister) is tantamount to creating a political vacuum," Fujii said.

Sadao Fuchigami, secretary general of the Social Democratic Party, said LDP leaders are only interested in maintaining power through back-room maneuvering.

Kazuo Shii, chairman of the Japanese Communist Party, also accused Mori of not publicly announcing his intention to resign while effectively telling his ruling coalition colleagues of the decision.

"The Mori administration is telling lies to the people and it has no right to keep on ruling the government," he said.