Kan eyes keeping Maehara, Noda in current Cabinet posts

TOKYO, Jan. 7 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan is considering keeping Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara
and Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda in their current posts when he reshuffles
his Cabinet and ruling party leadership, which will most likely take place Jan.
17, sources close to the premier said Friday.
Kan, who heads the Democratic Party of Japan, will most likely have DPJ
Secretary General Katsuya Okada continue to serve as the party's No. 2 man,
while Koichiro Gemba, minister in charge of national policy and DPJ policy
chief, will also likely retain both his posts, they said.
All the lawmakers are critical of party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa, who has been
embroiled in a funds scandal. By cornering Ozawa and his allies, Kan is
apparently hoping to stem a further drop in his public approval ratings, which
has dived to a critical level, and avoiding legislative gridlock in a divided
parliament.
But Kan is expected to replace DPJ Diet affairs chief Yoshio Hachiro in an
attempt to rebuild relations with the opposition camp, the sources said.
Kan appears to be exploring the possibility of appointing Defense Minister
Toshimi Kitazawa to a different Cabinet post, including chief Cabinet
secretary, or a key role in the party, the sources said.
In the morning, Kan and Kitazawa met for around 30 minutes at the premier's
office. They also held one-on-one talks for more than an hour Tuesday night.
Kan is expected to finish outlining the upcoming personnel changes by next
Thursday when the DPJ holds its convention.
''I have not decided anything. I'd like to give careful thought as there is
still time until the convention,'' he told reporters in the evening, adding he
will not finalize the lineups before the convention.
Some of the names floated so far as possible candidates to succeed Hachiro
include Kozo Watanabe and Tatsuo Kawabata, senior DPJ lawmakers who have both
served as Diet affairs chief in the 2000s, the sources said.
Watanabe has also been at odds with Ozawa, who is expected to be indicted as
early as this month over the scandal involving his political funds management
body.
Kan is considering replacing Hachiro because he could not prevent the
opposition-controlled House of Councillors from approving censure motions
against Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku and transport minister Sumio
Mabuchi in November.
While the censure motions were nonbinding, the Liberal Democratic Party and
other opposition parties are demanding that Sengoku and Mabuchi leave the
government, warning they will otherwise boycott upcoming Diet deliberations.
In a bid to win enough opposition backing to pass the fiscal 2011 budget and
related bills in the divided bicameral legislature, Kan is also leaning toward
replacing Sengoku and Mabuchi, according to the sources.
The focus is on Sengoku's future as he has played a central role in
coordinating major policies since Kan became prime minister in June.
Sengoku, also known for his anti-Ozawa stance, may take up a key DPJ post, such
as becoming an acting leader, if he leaves the Cabinet, the sources said.
==Kyodo