ID :
125940
Fri, 06/04/2010 - 00:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/125940
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Kan gaining support to become Japan`s new leader+
TOKYO, June 3 Kyodo -
Japan's incoming prime minister will form a new Cabinet on Friday, with Finance
Minister Naoto Kan standing a good chance of taking the top post, ruling party
lawmakers said Thursday.
A day after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's abrupt resignation, Democratic
Party of Japan lawmakers moved quickly to choose his successor as the upper and
lower houses of parliament both decided to name a new prime minister on Friday
afternoon.
With only about one month remaining before an expected upper house election in
July, many key DPJ lawmakers have shown support for Kan, a co-founder of the
party who has headed it twice since its establishment in 1998.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and transport minister Seiji Maehara, who had
earlier been seen as possible contenders in the race, said they will back Kan
to be the DPJ's new president.
Other supporters of Kan include Yoshito Sengoku, state minister for national
policy, Yukio Edano, state minister in charge of administrative reform, House
of Representatives Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi and other former members of the
now-defunct Socialist Party of Japan.
''Now is the time to fully implement reforms aimed at knocking off a
two-decade-old sense of despair,'' the 63-year-old Kan, who is also deputy
prime minister, said at a news conference to announce his candidacy.
In addition to help recover the flagging economy, Kan pledged he will do his
best to restore public confidence in the DPJ and create a political environment
free from money scandals.
So far, there is only one rival for Kan in the DPJ leadership race to be held
at a meeting Friday of all 423 of the party's parliamentarians.
DPJ lower house member Shinji Tarutoko declared Thursday he will join the race,
saying the DPJ needs ''a generational change'' in party leadership.
Tarutoko, 50, said at a news conference that if he wins the election, his first
job will be to reduce the number of lower house lawmakers to 400 from the
current 480 as part of the DPJ's ongoing efforts to trim wasteful spending.
Tarutoko, who chairs the House of Representatives Environment Committee, has
been gaining support from some mid-career DPJ members who are relatively
supportive of Ozawa.
While Tarutoko appears to face an uphill battle against Kan, it remains to be
seen how Ozawa will be involved in the leadership election as he leads an
intraparty group of about 150 lawmakers, by far the largest within the party.
Kan asked Okada for his cooperation during their talks Thursday morning, and
Okada agreed to back him on condition that the new party leadership neutralizes
the influence of Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ powerbroker who will
step down along with Hatoyama in connection with money scandals.
''A prime minister is a supreme leader of both the government and the (ruling)
party,'' Okada told reporters. ''A dual power structure is not desirable in
light of democratic principles.''
Senior Vice Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who leads an intraparty group
critical of Ozawa, also told reporters, ''Among our colleagues, we've reached
an agreement that Mr. Kan is preferable.''
At the news conference, Kan suggested he will avoid Ozawa's strong influence if
he runs a government.
When asked whether Kan will appoint Ozawa to key posts, he said, the kingmaker
should ''stay quiet for a while'' for the benefit of the country and the DPJ.
The winner of the DPJ leadership election will become Japan's new prime
minister on Friday.
Hatoyama's successor will serve as DPJ president until the end of September.
The Cabinet, headed by Hatoyama since last summer, will resign en masse on
Friday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told a press
conference.
The new prime minister will deliver his policy speech on Monday, and take
questions from ruling and opposition party representatives in the Diet from
Wednesday, according to a schedule the DPJ presented for coordination to
opposition parties.
The Hatoyama Cabinet was formed after the DPJ's landslide victory in last
summer's House of Representatives election, which ended more than half a
century of almost continuous rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.
But Hatoyama, hit by a recent sharp fall in public support, announced his
resignation on Wednesday, saying he no longer finds it possible to win back
people's trust in his policies after his failure to resolve a dispute over a
U.S. military base relocation and money scandals.
==Kyodo
Japan's incoming prime minister will form a new Cabinet on Friday, with Finance
Minister Naoto Kan standing a good chance of taking the top post, ruling party
lawmakers said Thursday.
A day after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's abrupt resignation, Democratic
Party of Japan lawmakers moved quickly to choose his successor as the upper and
lower houses of parliament both decided to name a new prime minister on Friday
afternoon.
With only about one month remaining before an expected upper house election in
July, many key DPJ lawmakers have shown support for Kan, a co-founder of the
party who has headed it twice since its establishment in 1998.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and transport minister Seiji Maehara, who had
earlier been seen as possible contenders in the race, said they will back Kan
to be the DPJ's new president.
Other supporters of Kan include Yoshito Sengoku, state minister for national
policy, Yukio Edano, state minister in charge of administrative reform, House
of Representatives Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi and other former members of the
now-defunct Socialist Party of Japan.
''Now is the time to fully implement reforms aimed at knocking off a
two-decade-old sense of despair,'' the 63-year-old Kan, who is also deputy
prime minister, said at a news conference to announce his candidacy.
In addition to help recover the flagging economy, Kan pledged he will do his
best to restore public confidence in the DPJ and create a political environment
free from money scandals.
So far, there is only one rival for Kan in the DPJ leadership race to be held
at a meeting Friday of all 423 of the party's parliamentarians.
DPJ lower house member Shinji Tarutoko declared Thursday he will join the race,
saying the DPJ needs ''a generational change'' in party leadership.
Tarutoko, 50, said at a news conference that if he wins the election, his first
job will be to reduce the number of lower house lawmakers to 400 from the
current 480 as part of the DPJ's ongoing efforts to trim wasteful spending.
Tarutoko, who chairs the House of Representatives Environment Committee, has
been gaining support from some mid-career DPJ members who are relatively
supportive of Ozawa.
While Tarutoko appears to face an uphill battle against Kan, it remains to be
seen how Ozawa will be involved in the leadership election as he leads an
intraparty group of about 150 lawmakers, by far the largest within the party.
Kan asked Okada for his cooperation during their talks Thursday morning, and
Okada agreed to back him on condition that the new party leadership neutralizes
the influence of Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ powerbroker who will
step down along with Hatoyama in connection with money scandals.
''A prime minister is a supreme leader of both the government and the (ruling)
party,'' Okada told reporters. ''A dual power structure is not desirable in
light of democratic principles.''
Senior Vice Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who leads an intraparty group
critical of Ozawa, also told reporters, ''Among our colleagues, we've reached
an agreement that Mr. Kan is preferable.''
At the news conference, Kan suggested he will avoid Ozawa's strong influence if
he runs a government.
When asked whether Kan will appoint Ozawa to key posts, he said, the kingmaker
should ''stay quiet for a while'' for the benefit of the country and the DPJ.
The winner of the DPJ leadership election will become Japan's new prime
minister on Friday.
Hatoyama's successor will serve as DPJ president until the end of September.
The Cabinet, headed by Hatoyama since last summer, will resign en masse on
Friday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told a press
conference.
The new prime minister will deliver his policy speech on Monday, and take
questions from ruling and opposition party representatives in the Diet from
Wednesday, according to a schedule the DPJ presented for coordination to
opposition parties.
The Hatoyama Cabinet was formed after the DPJ's landslide victory in last
summer's House of Representatives election, which ended more than half a
century of almost continuous rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.
But Hatoyama, hit by a recent sharp fall in public support, announced his
resignation on Wednesday, saying he no longer finds it possible to win back
people's trust in his policies after his failure to resolve a dispute over a
U.S. military base relocation and money scandals.
==Kyodo
