Koizumi faces test over leprosy verdict

Some 1000 former leprosy patients have joined a class action against the Japanese government

By staff and wire reports

TOKYO, Japan -- A key minister in Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's fledgling government is threatening to quit over a controversial court ruling in favor of former leprosy patients.

The issue represents Koizumi's first real internal political battle since he took office last month, replacing the deeply unpopular Yoshiro Mori.

Health Minister Chikara Sakaguchi said on Wednesday he might resign if the government appeals a landmark ruling ordering the payment of compensation to former leprosy patients isolated for decades because of their illness.

According to the national Mainichi newspaper, the health minister, a member of the Komei Party, has told fellow lawmakers in the party that he wants to resign if the government appeals.

Sakaguchi later told reporters he had informed his colleagues that he is "personally" opposed to appealing the court decision.

The support of Sakaguchi is particularly important for Koizumi because his Buddhist-backed New Komeito party provides Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party with a majority rule in parliament.

Skeptics say Sakaguchi might simply be grandstanding to try to boost his party's profile before crucial upper house elections in July.

Cabinet meeting

Koizumi held a regular meeting with members of his Cabinet on Wednesday, at which a leading topic was the question of whether to appeal the court ruling.

Koizumi swept to power on a wave of street-level popularity, but has since courted his share of controversy

The May 11 verdict by a district court in southern Japan found that Parliament contravened the constitution and the Health Ministry violated human rights by sending leprosy patients to centers on small islands or deep in remote mountains under a 1953 law.

It ordered the government to pay a total of 1.8 billion yen ($15 million) to 127 plaintiffs.

Koizumi is under intense pressure to let the ruling stand, but has so far has sidestepped questions in Parliament about his stance on the ruling.

He is reportedly considering a plan that would offer pensions to thousands of former patients in exchange for dropping the lawsuits.

Koizumi, Sakaguchi and Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama are "in the final stage of a decision, which should come later today," Koizumi spokesman Kazuhiko Koshikawa, said.

The prime minister was also expected to meet some of the former leprosy patients later on Wednesday, who have demanded a face-to-face meeting in protests outside his official residence this week.

"The prime minister will hear out what they have to say and then he'll stress the government's thinking on this case," Koshikawa said. He refused to elaborate.

Chronic infectious disease

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the upper respiratory tract and also the eyes.

Also known as Hansen's disease, the disease can cause depigmentation of the skin and deformities such as claw hand.

Hundreds of victims of the law are suing the government in separate lawsuits around the country. After the Kumamoto verdict, nearly 1,000 former leprosy patients joined class-action suits.

Opposition lawmakers have been critical of the prime minister's position.

"We have told the prime minister: Don't appeal!" said Fumitaka Tajika, an official in the Democratic Party, the largest opposition party.

Japan's leprosy law was repealed in 1996. In addition to ostracizing patients, it also required men with leprosy to be sterilized if they wanted to get married.