Japan's PM survives no-confidence motion

 

TOKYO- Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has survived a no-confidence motion in parliament but says he is willing to resign when the country's post-tsunami recovery takes hold.

Kan won by a margin of 293-152 in the 480-seat lower house. Several members were absent or abstained from the vote.

Before the session, Kan urged lawmakers to let him stay on and push ahead with measures to bring the country through the crisis caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 24,000 people dead or missing and crippled a nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo. He said he would consider resigning after they firm up.

Kan, in office just one year, has been criticized for not acting fast enough on the crisis.