Kan revamps Cabinet to fight flagging popularity+

TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday conducted a minor Cabinet reshuffle in the
hope of boosting his popularity and improving ties with formidable opposition
parties, recruiting veteran lawmakers known to be enthusiastic about fiscal
consolidation and trade liberalization.
The shake-up, resulting in four newcomers to the Cabinet, took place ahead of
the 150-day regular parliamentary session beginning Jan. 24, during which the
government led by the Democratic Party of Japan will face tough challenges from
opposition parties over the passage of the fiscal 2011 budget and related
bills.
The reshuffle included the appointment of Yukio Edano, 46, making him the
youngest-ever chief Cabinet secretary, and Kaoru Yosano, 72, a longtime
architect of economic policy in the DPJ's main rival, as minister responsible
for rebuilding the country's tattered public finances and social security.
''I reshuffled the Cabinet in view of gaining maximum power to overcome the
crisis (facing Japan),'' Kan said at a news conference. ''A big issue today is
how to create a dependable social security system.''
With the participation of Yosano, Kan said he wants to spark national debate on
what to do to secure sustainable financial resources for social services, amid
the rapid aging and decline of Japan's population.
Kan expressed hope that Yosano will act as a go-between with opposition parties
to lay the groundwork for cross-party talks on issues critical to Japan's
future.
The reshuffle and some changes to the DPJ's executive lineup also came as Kan
attempts to handle divisions within his party mainly stemming from strife
between the leadership and lawmakers backing power broker Ichiro Ozawa, who
will be indicted, possibly this month, over a political funds scandal.
Kan, who has vowed to eradicate money politics, did not offer any key posts to
lawmakers closely affiliated with Ozawa, who lost to him in the DPJ
presidential election in September.
The new post for Edano, who was acting secretary general of the DPJ, will
include serving as the top government spokesman.
Edano is known as a vocal critic of Ozawa, as was his predecessor Yoshito
Sengoku, who was dropped from the Cabinet after coming under pressure from the
opposition camp. Sengoku became the DPJ's acting leader.
Sengoku, who was censured last year by the opposition over the handling of a
territorial row with China, is still expected to wield influence over vital
government issues through Edano, one of his favorite political disciples.
Yosano, a fiscal conservative who left a small opposition party Thursday, was
picked as minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, and social security
reform.
Known as a staunch advocate of a consumption tax hike, Yosano, now an
independent, was finance minister until immediately before the DPJ's rise to
power in September 2009.
He was for many years one of the architects of the Liberal Democratic Party's
economic policies before co-founding the Sunrise Party of Japan last April.
In addition, Hirohisa Fujii, a veteran DPJ lawmaker who was the first finance
minister under the DPJ-led government, was appointed as deputy chief Cabinet
secretary.
Edano said he had ''impudently'' asked Kan to name the 78-year-old Fujii as one
of his three deputy Cabinet secretaries.
''Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujii will provide support when I'm not enough
and I will instead make efforts by using the virtue of youth,'' Edano said at a
news conference after announcing the new lineup.
Fujii, also known as a fiscal conservative who has close ties with Yosano,
handed over the post of finance minister to Kan about a year ago. Kan became
prime minister in June after the resignation of his predecessor Yukio Hatoyama.
While Kan's appointment of Yosano and Fujii showed his renewed resolve on
fiscal reconstruction, it also fueled speculation that his government is
embarking on a path to raise the current consumption tax rate of 5 percent.
But Kan said the national debate he hopes to hold is not aimed at hiking the tax.
Trade minister Akihiro Ohata, who had been reluctant to support Kan's drive to
join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-backed multilateral free trade
agreement, was replaced by Banri Kaieda, Yosano's predecessor.
Kaieda has adopted a proactive stance toward the trade pact. Ohata was moved to
the position of transport minister.
It is the second Cabinet shake-up under Kan's premiership. The previous
reshuffle was conducted in September.
It remains uncertain if the changes will help to boost the approval ratings for
Kan's Cabinet, which have fallen to less than half their peak of over 60
percent, and avoid legislative gridlock in the divided Diet, in which the DPJ
only dominates the lower house.
The DPJ lost control of the House of Councillors in a stinging defeat in the
upper house election in July, partly because of remarks by Kan suggesting a
possible hike in the consumption tax, a taboo topic for many years in Japanese
politics, especially during campaigning.
The four newcomers to the Cabinet are Edano, Yosano, Satsuki Eda, a former
upper house president who was named as justice minister, and Kansei Nakano, a
former upper house vice president, who became National Public Safety Commission
chief.
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Defense
Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, national policy minister Koichiro Gemba, who also
serves as the DPJ's policy chief, and internal affairs minister Yoshihiro
Katayama were among those who retained their Cabinet posts.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada also remained in his post.
==Kyodo
2011-01-14 23:19:23