Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is set to step down by the end of August in return for the adoption of key budget legislation, news reports said Wednesday.
Kan's ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and major opposition parties have outlined a deal on the timing of his resignation after weeks of wrangling, Kyodo News reported citing an unnamed party source.
Kan is expected to leave office after the passage of a second extra budget for the current financial year through to March 2012, probably by late August, Kyodo reported. The budget is expected to fund further disaster recovery measures, dpa reported.
The DPJ-led government has indicated it hopes to extend the current Diet session for 70 days, but it remains to be seen whether the opposition camp will accept it. The session was scheduled to end Wednesday.
Kan survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote on June 2, but said earlier he would resign once his government has dealt with the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and subsequent crisis at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, has said it does not expect the situation to be under control until January at the earliest.
Kan's government has been criticized for a slow and inadequate response to the March disaster that left 15,471 dead and 7,472 missing, and to the ongoing nuclear crisis.