AFP - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama insisted Thursday he intended to fight on after a former aide was charged in a political funding scandal, but hinted he could step down if the public demanded it.

The indictment caps a difficult first 100 days in office for the political blue-blood, whose August election victory ended more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule in the world's number two economy.

"I feel grave responsibility," Hatoyama told a news conference after prosecutors indicted his former aide Keiji Katsuba for allegedly misreporting millions of dollars of donations.

I'm having a déjà vu.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}