Kan elected Japan's new leader, Cabinet likely to be formed Tues.+

TOKYO, June 4 Kyodo -
Naoto Kan, Democratic Party of Japan leader, was voted in as the country's new
prime minister Friday with his Cabinet to be launched early next week, roughly
one month out from an expected upper house election that may prove tough for
the ruling party.
After becoming the DPJ's new leader, both upper and lower houses of parliament
voted him in later in the day as the new premier in a majority vote, replacing
Yukio Hatoyama who abruptly announced his resignation on Wednesday, only about
eight months after sweeping to power.
Kan, 63, who was deputy prime minister and finance minister in the Hatoyama
Cabinet, will take the helm at a time when the country is struggling with a
two-decade-old economic slump and is full of public mistrust in politics.
''As a prime minister, I will rebuild this country,'' Kan raised his voice when
he expressed his determination in a speech following his victory in the DPJ
presidential election.
He called for unity within the ruling party, after winning by 291 to 129 over
sole contender Shinji Tarutoko, a less well-known DPJ lower house member who
called for ''a generational change'' in party leadership.
Kan said, ''Let's all unite in fighting the current difficult political
situation'' in the run-up to the upper house election expected in July, where
the party will try to achieve a substantial majority to avoid a policy
deadlock.
Kan, the fifth prime minister since 2006, intends to launch a new Cabinet on
Tuesday, DPJ lawmakers said.
Kan is planning to name Yoshito Sengoku, who was state minister in charge of
designing national strategy, as the government's top spokesman, according to a
senior DPJ lawmaker.
''It is still completely up in the air,'' Kan told his first news conference
after being elected premier in the Diet, when asked about his Cabinet lineup.
''I'd like to have a bit of time to hear a range of opinions and sort out my
thoughts.''
As Kan needs to have some time before putting his team into real action, he is
discussing with the party whether to extend the current Diet session, set to
end on June 16, for about two weeks, DPJ lawmakers said.
If that happens, it is likely that the upper house election will take place on
July 25, instead of July 11 widely expected earlier.
Kan agreed Friday with the DPJ's small coalition partner, the People's New
Party, that the two will continue to form a government together.
Kan, a co-founder of the DPJ, is Japan's first prime minister in 14 years who
was not born into a long-established political family, unlike many of his
immediate predecessors, including Hatoyama and Taro Aso, whose grandfathers
were also prime ministers.
The fact that Kan is not a hereditary politician will likely help increase his
party's popularity, as many voters are tired of seeing prime ministers who hail
from elite families resigning one after another.
But the leadership change is unlikely to lead to a major shift in Japan's
economic and foreign policies.
Kan has said he will continue the unfinished work of Hatoyama, while doing his
utmost to create an environment in which more DPJ lawmakers can get involved in
formulating policies and to restore public confidence in the DPJ ahead of the
House of Councillors election.
Attention is focused on to what extent Kan, an activist-turned-politician, will
be able to lessen the influence of Ichiro Ozawa, the outgoing DPJ secretary
general, when he runs the government.
One of the major reasons for the previous Cabinet's unpopularity was money
scandals associated with Ozawa, regarded as the most powerful figure in the
DPJ, who has decided to resign with Hatoyama.
Many of those who supported Tarutoko in the election are affiliated politically
with Ozawa, who heads an intraparty group of about 150 lawmakers, by far the
biggest in the ruling party.
This is the third time that Kan, the DPJ's founding president, has taken the
top post since the formation of the party in 1998. But his intraparty group has
only some 50 members.
The decision to pick Sengoku, who is known to be critical of Ozawa, as chief
Cabinet secretary suggests that Kan is trying to create an image that the new
government is distancing itself from the kingmaker.
Among other key posts, Kan is considering appointing Yukio Edano, state
minister for administrative reform, as the DPJ's secretary general. Edano also
has taken a strict stance on Ozawa's way of doing politics.
Also, there is a plan of appointing Renho, a TV presenter-turned-upper house
lawmaker, to one of the major posts. Renho, who goes by her first name, has
drawn attention for battling against the country's powerful bureaucrats for
eradicating wasteful spending.
Hatoyama and his entire Cabinet stepped down together in the morning, ahead of
the Diet's vote on the new leader in the afternoon. Hatoyama's Cabinet
floundered in public opinion polls, caused by his mishandling of where to
relocate a key U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture and money scandals.
After the party race, Kan won 313 votes out of 477 in the more powerful lower
house. Liberal Democratic Party leader Sadakazu Tanigaki received 116 votes and
the rest went to chiefs of smaller 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 LDP.
But Hatoyama decided to resign due to growing concerns about the potential loss
of many DPJ seats in the upper house election, as his Cabinet's public support,
once staying above 70 percent, has fallen below 20 percent in recent weeks.
Officially, Kan will assume the premiership upon an appointment ceremony at the
Imperial Palace, which is expected to take place Tuesday. Until then, Hatoyama
will continue serving as premier by proxy.
==Kyodo
2010-06-04 23:29:03


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