The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori, faces an opposition censure motion today. Yesterday the Nikkei slumped to its lowest level in 16 years, and uncertainty still surrounded his future as leader.
The vote on the censure motion, expected this morning, means a meeting between Mr Mori and the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, in Tokyo leading an Irish trade mission, had to be rescheduled from this morning to the afternoon.
While the vote is almost certain to be rejected given the ruling coalition's majority in the upper house, opposition leaders said yesterday they hope it will highlight the ambiguity of Mr Mori's position after he denied reports he had given a commitment to resign.
Mr Mori confirmed yesterday that he would bring forward his Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) presidential election from September, a move interpreted as paving the way for him to resign.
"We should bring forward the party presidential race scheduled for this autumn. "The exact timing and method of the election should be subject to further discussions," the Prime Minister told an LDP convention.
He said he wanted to "apologise from the bottom of my heart" to the people of the nation, party members and our coalition partners for recent events.
But he said he would stay on to oversee passage of budget-related bills and other key legislation.
The Prime Minister will meet President Bush in Washington on March 19th and President Putin on March 25th.
Mr Mori has denied saying he intends to step down and has not ruled out the possibility of putting his name in the ring for party president in elections expected as early as next month. But commentators say he is unlikely to do so, thus effectively abandoning his bid to stay.
The Nikkei share average plunged to fresh 16-year lows yesterday, driven down by a plunge on Wall Street, high-tech profit warnings and political uncertainty.
Mr Mori told the LDP convention that he would set up an emergency economic package team to implement measures proposed by the party last week. But he gave no specific details as to what the team would do.
The LDP secretary general, Mr Makato Koga, apologised to the party faithful for recent scandals and damage done to public trust in the party that has ruled Japan for most of the past 50 years.