Japan PM denies shelving royal succession bill
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-10 14:32

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday denied a report that he will shelve a bill that would let women take the country' imperial throne, but he urged cautious discussion of the issue.

This week's announcement of Princess Kiko's pregnancy immediately put the brakes on the bill, drafted to avoid a succession crisis in the royal family. No male heir to the throne has been born since 1965.

Koizumi, who had earlier called for quick approval of the law change, has been rapidly backing away from that position since the pregnancy announcement.

But he said that the proposal was still alive, and that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will discuss it.

"We should make a decision after having a clearer grasp of the situation," he told reporters, denying a Kyodo News agency report that the bill was dead. "I don't think the issue should trigger political conflict."

Kiko's pregnancy _ announced Tuesday _ raised the possibility of a new male heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne, taking the steam out of a drive to let empresses reign.

Kiko is married to Prince Akishino, Emperor Akihito's second son and second in line to the throne. They have two daughters, but no sons.

Akishino's brother, Crown Prince Naruhito, has a daughter with Crown Princess Masako, but no other children. Masako's enduring bout with a nervous disorder has dimmed prospects for the couple having more.

Kyodo had said Koizumi's decision to shelve the bill followed a meeting with ruling party leaders Thursday, when he reportedly told them that he'd prefer to wait until the change could gain broader support in Parliament _ and that he did not want the issue to trigger a political fight.

But his top deputy, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, said Friday that the ruling party will keep discussing the bill.

"It's not about timing, but about deepening discussions," he said. "We are going to emphasize substance."

Several government ministers on Friday also backed delaying action on the bill until the gender of Kiko's child is determined. The birth is reportedly due in September or October.

"Depending on the outcome (of the pregnancy), I would expect an argument that there is no need to change the law," said Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura.

A Koizumi-appointed government panel recommended in November that a 1947 law be changed to let an emperor's first child _ boy or girl _ to take the throne, opening the door for the first reigning empress since the 1700s.

The proposal gained wide public support. But many conservative academics and lawmakers, including members of Koizumi's Cabinet, have urged him to slow down for more debate before changing a long-standing tradition.

Opponents have even suggested bringing back concubines to help provide male descendants, or reinstating the aristocracy _ banned after World War II _ to increase candidates for the throne.

Changing the law to allow a reining empress would put Naruhito and Masako's daughter Aiko, 4, second in line to the throne, with Akishino slipping behind her.

If the law remains unchanged and Kiko has a boy, the succession line would run from Naruhito to Akishino to the boy.