Prime ministerial woes

I had a chuckle today when I read that the German newspaper Die Zeit mistakenly sketched a picture of the former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in its picture of G8 leaders instead of the current PM Naoto Kan. Considering Kan is the fifth PM since 2006, it's not all that surprising that they could get them mixed up...

http://news020.blog13.fc2.com/blog-entry-1555.html

My chuckle evaporated in tonight's news headlines - elements within the ruling party (former PM Hatoyama and his deputy Ichiro Ozawa - both of whom have been embroiled in financial scandals) have announced they will support an opposition no confidence motion against the PM.
So much for Japan being a consensus country....
Considering the extent of problems Japan is facing, one might think that  it's an opportune time to put Machiavelli back on the shelf for a little while, put aside personal differences,  and strive to be statesmen who co-operate with a common goal....

But no... calculated political opportunism...

Yet again Japanese politicians dismay....

Update
Some kind of deal was struck.  The PM stays put, but he has promised he will resign after things have stabilized...  Personally I think he's doing  a much better job that his immediate predecessors would have done.  People up the coast are, unsurprisingly, fuming...