Naoto Kan
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan drinks water during a debate with the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party leader Sadakazu Tanigaki (not in the picture) at the parliament in Tokyo June 1, 2011. Rebels in Kan's party on Wednesday cranked up pressure on the unpopular leader as he struggled with a nuclear crisis, threatening to back an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion if he refused to step down. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Yukio Edano, Japan's chief government spokesman on Saturday told Reuters that detested Prime Minister Naoto Kan would not stay in office till 2012.

Kan who received no confidence vote in Parliament hinted that he wanted to keep his job beyond this year. The rebels in the ruling party who voted against Kan were annoyed because they wanted Kan to quit much sooner than what he hinted.

Japanese media quoted Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano saying on a TV programme that Kan did not intend to stay in power that long.

Kan survived the no-confidence motion on Thursday, but bickering quickly resurfaced after his comments suggested that he wanted to leave once he finished his work on handling disaster and the damaged reactors at the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant achieved a stable cold shutdown, a process expected to take at least until January and probably longer.

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