( AP )- Japan's opposition suggested Sunday it would fight the government's choice of a nominee for the central bank chief, setting the scene for a divisive fight in the country's stalled parliament.
The government on Friday nominated Toshiro Muto, a deputy governor at the Bank of Japan, to take over later this month. The term of the current bank head, Toshihiko Fukui, ends March 19.
But the opposition camp, which rules the upper house of the country's parliament and has blocked most of the ruling party's legislative initiatives in recent months, voiced serious doubts about Muto.
"Five years ago, the party opposed Muto's appointment to the BOJ deputy governor post. Unless something comes up that would drastically change our view, we don't need to change our stance," Naoto Kan of the Democratic Party of Japan told national broadcaster NHK.
Muto is a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat and has been groomed by Fukui to be his successor. Ruling Liberal Democratic Party officials said Muto would provide a smooth transition during times of economic uncertainty.
But the opposition party claims Muto is too politically connected as an ex-official in the Finance Ministry, saying the central bank should be clearly separate from the government.
The Bank of Japan has only asserted its independence in the last decade or so, although Japanese politicians often go further than their counterparts in the United States, for instance, in voicing their opinions about what the central bank should do.
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said Saturday that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda should nominate someone else.
He said Fukuda should then negotiate a settlement with the DPJ's president, Ichiro Ozawa.
The nomination has to pass the two houses of Japan's parliament to take effect. The Liberal Democratic Party controls the powerful lower house.
The DPJ's Kan, however, said the final party decision on whether to oppose Muto would be made only after the parliamentary hearings Tuesday on the nominee and candidates for the two Bank of Japan deputy chief positions.
A parliamentary delay in Muto's confirmation would be an embarrassment for Japan on the international stage, reducing investor confidence at a time when global markets are in turmoil.
The Bank of Japan will be changing leadership at a critical time for the global and Japanese economies amid fears about soaring oil prices, volatile global stock markets, a strengthening yen and declining corporate capital investment.
Analysts say they do not expect the political scuffling to directly hurt Bank of Japan policies or to derail its decision-making in the near future.