Japanese PM may resign later this month
Source: Agencies |
August 11, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
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UNPOPULAR Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan looked likely to finally step down this month after parliament made headway on key legislation yesterday, setting the stage for Japan's sixth prime minister in five years.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, a low-key fiscal conservative, is a key contender to succeed Kan.
But skeptics question whether any new leader will fare much better than his five predecessors, none of whom lasted long in office and who all struggled to implement policies to end two decades of economic stagnation and fix the deep structural problems of a fast-aging society.
Japanese media said Kan's Democratic Party was planning to vote on a new leader as early as August 28, although a party source said it could be slip a bit if it took longer to enact pending legislation, including a bill allowing the government to issue more bonds to pay for this year's budget.
A lower house panel yesterday approved that bill, passage of which Kan has said was a prerequisite for his resignation.
"No one knows what he will do, but the conditions for Kan's resignation are firming up," said Mikitaka Masuyama at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
A new prime minister will have to find funds to rebuild Japan's northeast from the ravages of the March earthquake and tsunami despite public debt already twice the US$5 trillion economy, forge a new energy policy in the wake of the nuclear crisis at a crippled power plant and tackle tax and social security reforms.
Noda, who like Kan sees reining in ballooning public debt as a policy priority, appears to have pole position. Surveys show, however, that he lacks appeal among ordinary voters and his calls for higher levies could make him an unpopular choice in some quarters of the ruling party.
Whether to raise taxes and how to pull the world's third biggest economy out of deflation will likely be a focus of the party race, with some potential contenders calling for more aggressive loosening of monetary policy and wary of a plan to double the sales tax to 10 percent by mid-decade.
Some analysts hope that replacing Kan, whose policy flip-flops and abrasive personality have irked both ruling and opposition lawmakers, would allow smoother cooperation with the opposition, which controls parliament's upper house and can block legislation.
"There are a lot of things going on in both (main ruling and opposition) parties that mean it is possible that more effective government could happen," said Chuo University professor Steven Reed.
Others question whether the opposition, keen to capitalize on the Democrats' sagging support, will cooperate on much beyond an extra budget needed to fund reconstruction from the tsunami.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, a low-key fiscal conservative, is a key contender to succeed Kan.
But skeptics question whether any new leader will fare much better than his five predecessors, none of whom lasted long in office and who all struggled to implement policies to end two decades of economic stagnation and fix the deep structural problems of a fast-aging society.
Japanese media said Kan's Democratic Party was planning to vote on a new leader as early as August 28, although a party source said it could be slip a bit if it took longer to enact pending legislation, including a bill allowing the government to issue more bonds to pay for this year's budget.
A lower house panel yesterday approved that bill, passage of which Kan has said was a prerequisite for his resignation.
"No one knows what he will do, but the conditions for Kan's resignation are firming up," said Mikitaka Masuyama at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
A new prime minister will have to find funds to rebuild Japan's northeast from the ravages of the March earthquake and tsunami despite public debt already twice the US$5 trillion economy, forge a new energy policy in the wake of the nuclear crisis at a crippled power plant and tackle tax and social security reforms.
Noda, who like Kan sees reining in ballooning public debt as a policy priority, appears to have pole position. Surveys show, however, that he lacks appeal among ordinary voters and his calls for higher levies could make him an unpopular choice in some quarters of the ruling party.
Whether to raise taxes and how to pull the world's third biggest economy out of deflation will likely be a focus of the party race, with some potential contenders calling for more aggressive loosening of monetary policy and wary of a plan to double the sales tax to 10 percent by mid-decade.
Some analysts hope that replacing Kan, whose policy flip-flops and abrasive personality have irked both ruling and opposition lawmakers, would allow smoother cooperation with the opposition, which controls parliament's upper house and can block legislation.
"There are a lot of things going on in both (main ruling and opposition) parties that mean it is possible that more effective government could happen," said Chuo University professor Steven Reed.
Others question whether the opposition, keen to capitalize on the Democrats' sagging support, will cooperate on much beyond an extra budget needed to fund reconstruction from the tsunami.
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