日本首相鸠山由纪夫正式宣布辞职

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said he and his number two will step down from power after his party suffered a slide in the polls which could threaten its chances in an election expected next month.

受民主党支持率下滑影响，在下个月将举行的选举中，日本首相鸠山由纪夫恐乌纱不保。6月2日，他宣布，他本人和副手将一同下台。

Some members of the Democratic Party have called for Mr Hatoyama to step down to revive the party's fortunes ahead of an election for the upper house of parliament which is expected to take place on July 11. The party needs to win that election in order to smooth policymaking.

日本上议院选举预计将在7月11日举行。为了在选举之前重新赢得民众的支持，一些党内人士曾要求鸠山由纪夫下台。民主党需要赢得这次选举，以便更顺利地制定政策。

Mr Hatoyama addressed party members and the press with teary eyes and said both he and his party secretary-general Ichiro Ozawa would resign their posts.

眼圈里擎着泪水，鸠山由纪夫对民主党以及媒体宣布，他本人以及民主党秘书长小泽一郎都将辞去当前职务。

Mr Hatoyama said: "I too will be resigning from my current position, and so will be Secretary General (Ichiro) Ozawa, as is commonly known to have been in the midst of the debate over political funding laws."

鸠山由纪夫说：“我会辞去我当前的职务。众所周知，在政治献金问题上，秘书长小泽一郎成了众矢之的，他也将因此而辞职。”

Political analysts said that unless Mr Ozawa also quit, any boost in popularity was likely to be limited at best, following voter suspicions over his alleged involvement in a funding scandal.

政界分析人士表示，小泽只有选择下台，任何为提高支持率所作的努力，收效都会很有限，因为他涉嫌涉足政治献金丑闻，这使民众对他产生了怀疑。