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TOKYO, JAPAN - JAPAN'S opposition-controlled upper house of parliament on Wednesday voted down the government's latest nominee to be the next central bank chief, hours before the post becomes vacant.
The upper house rejected Koji Tanami, a former finance ministry official who now heads Japan's main development lending agency, by a vote of 125 to 112.
'We hereby decide not to agree,' upper house president Satsuki Eda announced.
Mr Tanami was the second nominee rejected by the opposition. Current Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term expires at midnight (11pm Singapore time).
Nominees for the central bank need the approval of both houses of parliament. The opposition won control of the upper house last year, setting the stage for gridlock.
The opposition has argued that both nominees were too entrenched in the finance ministry to preserve the independence of the central bank, which has repeatedly come under government pressure to keep low interest rates.
The opposition has also argued that the next central bank chief needs to have experience dealing with overseas counterparts in light of recent market turmoil triggered by a US economic downturn.
The upper house has approved two government picks to be deputy Bank of Japan governors, one of whom would likely be asked to serve as interim head of the central bank if the deadlock continues for the top spot.
On Tuesday, the upper house approved Kiyohiko Nishimura, a statistician at the prestigious University of Tokyo and a former research fellow at Washington's Brookings Institution.
The upper house also earlier approved another academic, Masaaki Shirakawa, who had previously served in the central bank's New York office.
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