Report: Kan could resign this month

TOKYO, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, under pressure since the March 11 quake-triggered nuclear plant crisis, may resign as early as this month, lawmakers said.

The resignation of Kan, in office only since June of last year, could come after parliament gives its nod by Aug. 26 to two major bills allowing the government to issue deficit-covering bonds this fiscal year and to promote the use of renewable energy, Kyodo News reported Wednesday.

The report said Kan's ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party have planned to get the bills passed by that date. That could pave the way for Kan's resignation announcement thereafter.

August will also mark the end of the current session of Parliament.

The nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan was set off by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami catastrophe and the Kan government has been facing mounting pressure to resign and criticism of his government's handling of the crisis.