Japan's opposition is ready to hold talks with the ruling coalition to end an embarrassing vacancy at the helm of the central bank, a senior official said Sunday. "It is very important" to hold a dialogue, Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, the nation's largest opposition, said in a television interview.
"We don't think we can leave the governor post vacant for a long time," Hatoyama said, adding that his party hopes to "hear from the prime minister about a new proposal as early as tomorrow."
The ruling and opposition camps failed to agree on a name before governor Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ran out Wednesday, with the opposition saying government nominees were too close to the finance ministry.
The government is aiming to have a new chief in place before the next policy board meeting from April 8 to 9 as well as a meeting of financial heads of the Group of Seven industrialised nations in Washington in mid-April, coalition officials said.
The opposition voted down two names proposed by prime minister Yasuo Fukuda's government due to worries they might not preserve the independence of the central bank because of their close ties with the finance ministry.