Kan, Noda hold talks, Cabinet reshuffle likely to be key topic

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TOKYO, Jan. 9 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan met with Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the
premier's office Sunday, with their talks expected to have touched on a Cabinet
reshuffle and a budget plan for fiscal 2011.
During the 45-minute-long meeting, the two may have discussed who should
succeed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku if Kan decides to replace the
government's top spokesman when he reshuffles his Cabinet and ruling party
leadership in mid-January, sources close to the matter said.
Kan also made unofficial inquiry to veteran Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker
Kozo Watanabe about taking the post of chairman of the party's Diet affairs
committee to better cope with a bicameral Diet, where the House of Councillors
is controlled by the opposition bloc.
It has been a major focus of the planned Cabinet reshuffle how Kan will treat
Sengoku as the opposition-controlled upper house approved a censure motion
against Sengoku in November.
Opposition parties have said they will reject Diet deliberations if Sengoku
stays in the post despite the censure motion.
In a bid to win enough opposition backing to pass the fiscal 2011 budget and
related bills in the divided bicameral legislature, Kan is reportedly leaning
toward replacing Sengoku.
But the premier has faced difficulties in selecting someone else to fill
Sengoku's shoes, and talk that Noda may be tapped to succeed him in the post
has emerged.
The finance minister is said to want to stay in his current post as he was
responsible for compilation of the fiscal 2011 budget plan.
After meeting with Kan, Noda left the prime minister's office without
responding to questions from reporters.
Noda, a lawmaker in the House of Representatives, was first elected to the
lower house in 1993 and is serving his fifth term. He has been finance minister
since last June when Kan formed his Cabinet.
There have also been reemerging calls among some of Kan's allies for keeping
Sengoku in the current post as a key man in Kan's administration.
Kan wants to replace Chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee Yoshio Hachiro with
Watanabe, a former lower house vice speaker, apparently pinning hopes on the
ability of the experienced politician with a wide network of connections with
members of both ruling and opposition parties to deal with the divided Diet.
The premier also visited House of Representatives Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi on
Sunday afternoon to exchange opinions on Diet affairs.
==Kyodo
2011-01-10 00:21:38