日本首相鸠山由纪夫闪电辞职

日本首相鸠山由纪夫2日正式宣布辞职，此时距其去年9月16日上台只有8个月。鸠山表示，他是因驻日美军普天间机场搬迁问题造成政局混乱而引咎辞职的。被称为“外星人”的鸠山这次真是以“十足的外星模式”结束了他的政治生涯。

He rose like a rocket but his fall to Earth has been equally spectacular.

It was just eight months ago that Yukio Hatoyama swept away more than half-a-century of conservative rule in Japan. His promises to break the grip of the bureaucrats and to put Washington in its place earned him a remarkable 75 per cent approval rating.

Today, with his popularity down to just 17 per cent, Mr Hatoyama resigned.

North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy reports from Tokyo.

(sounds from Okinawa rally)

MARK WILLACY: It was the issue which revealed Yukio Hatoyama to be a ditherer, a man without a plan and a politician without a policy.

After promising during the election campaign to shift a controversial US military base off the island of Okinawa, Mr Hatoyama got a choking dose of realpolitik.

For a start, the Americans wouldn't budge and a furious President Obama confronted Mr Hatoyama on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in Washington in April, asking the Japanese leader: "Can you follow through?"

But Mr Hatoyama did was he did best. He stalled, infuriating tens of thousands of fed up Okinawans.

(Japanese woman speaks)

Despite several large public rallies on Okinawa, Mr Hatoyama buckled to the Americans, splitting his coalition and further eroding his public standing.

Today, announcing his resignation after just eight months, he acknowledged that he'd alienated everyone on both sides.

(Yukio Hatoyama speaking)

"I caused trouble for the people of Okinawa", he says. "I worked hard for six months to move the US base out of the island. I hope everyone understands my heartfelt decision to maintain the US-Japan relationship as one of mutual trust", says Mr Hatoyama.

From the dizzying heights of his 75 per cent approval rating, Yukio Hatoyama tumbled into political perdition, his support plummeting to just 17 per cent.

Another issue which wounded him was his outright denial of any knowledge that his wealthy mother was pumping millions of dollars into his political war-chest.

To most Japanese, it meant that the millionaire political was either so wealthy he was out of touch, or that he was simply lying.

Mostly, people found Yukio Hatoyama aloof and indecisive - a man who lived up to his nickname of "The Alien".

(Yukio Hatoyama speaking)

"I'm often called an alien", says Mr Hatoyama, his eyes welling with tears. "I think people see me that way because I am always talking about the future, five, 10, 20 years from now, instead of talking about the current Japan. So people didn't understand what I was saying."

It's now up to Mr Hatoyama's successor to untangle the Government's message and to lead the ruling party to next month's Upper House elections.

They'll follow in the footsteps of a man known for his garish chequered shirts, his alien nickname, his dithering, and his flowery sentiments.

And on that latter score, Yukio Hatoyama today revealed that it was the appearance of a bird during a weekend summit in South Korea that signalled his political demise.

YUKIO HATOYAMA (translated): In my hotel, there was a brown-eared bulbul that appeared. This bulbul was actually the same bird that I would see at home. I thought to myself it was almost as if the bulbul bird was calling to me telling me that it was time for me to come home.

MARK WILLACY: The brown-eared bulbul is known for being large, noisy and conspicuous; everything Yukio Hatoyama wasn't during his short tenure.