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Japan's ruling Democrats maneuver before picking PM
Source: Agencies |
June 3, 2010, Thursday
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JAPANESE ruling Democratic Party lawmakers maneuvered today to pick a new leader, and hence premier, after fiscally conservative Finance Minister Naoto Kan threw his hat in the ring to replace unpopular Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who quit a day earlier ahead of an election.
The Democrats will vote tomorrow to pick a new leader, but the political turmoil could delay efforts to thrash out plans set to be announced this month to cut Japan's bulging public debt and craft a strategy to engineer economic growth in an ageing society.
Kan is the front-runner to succeed Hatoyama, who resigned after just eight months in office. But party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa will also play a key role in determining if the 63-year-old Kan, a former party leader with considerable clout, gets the job.
Ozawa, widely seen as pulling the strings behind Hatoyama's government, quit yesterday as party secretary-general.
But as the de facto chief of the Democrats' biggest bloc of lawmakers, his backing could prove key.
That could also affect how aggressively Japan's new leader tackles the urgent problem of reining in a public debt already twice the size of its economy, since Ozawa is against promising to raise the 5 percent sales tax before an upper house election expected in July.
The Democrats, who swept to power last year in a landslide election victory but whose support has since plummeted, are trying to boost the party's fortunes in the upper house election that they need to win to pass bills smoothly.
Still, it was unclear whether a change at the top would improve the Democrats' chances in the upcoming election.
Hatoyama became Japan's fourth straight leader to leave office after a year or less, reminding voters of previous governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party, two of whose leaders threw in the towel after about a year in the job.
Kan, a former health minister once known for battling bureaucrats, has forged an image as a fiscal conservative and occasional central bank critic since assuming the finance post in January.
That could raise the chances of bolder steps to rein in a public debt already about twice the size of Japan's GDP, a stance investors and many voters would welcome, although he is hardly a fresh face.
The yen was under pressure today after political uncertainty in Japan helped push it to a two-week low against the dollar. Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.8 percent following a rally on Wall Street, but the market was watching closely as the ruling party geared up to pick a new leader.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, who was seen as a potential candidate, told reporters that he would back Kan, who doubles as deputy prime minister, as long as Kan seeks to lessen the influence of Ozawa in a new government.
Shinji Tarutoko, 50, who heads the lower house environment committee, told his supporters that he would run for the party head, local news agencies said. But not much is known about his views on economic policy.
Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, whose name had been floated by media as a possible successor to Hatoyama, said he would not run and would instead back Kan.
Japan's new leader will face a tough task keeping ties with Washington on track, since Hatoyama's deal with Washington to shift a US airbase to northern Okinawa is staunchly opposed by local residents and will be hard to implement.
Kan, in his role as finance minister, has distanced himself from the base row, and his views on foreign policy and national security are less well-known.
A new cabinet is expected to be formed tomorrow.
The Democrats will vote tomorrow to pick a new leader, but the political turmoil could delay efforts to thrash out plans set to be announced this month to cut Japan's bulging public debt and craft a strategy to engineer economic growth in an ageing society.
Kan is the front-runner to succeed Hatoyama, who resigned after just eight months in office. But party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa will also play a key role in determining if the 63-year-old Kan, a former party leader with considerable clout, gets the job.
Ozawa, widely seen as pulling the strings behind Hatoyama's government, quit yesterday as party secretary-general.
But as the de facto chief of the Democrats' biggest bloc of lawmakers, his backing could prove key.
That could also affect how aggressively Japan's new leader tackles the urgent problem of reining in a public debt already twice the size of its economy, since Ozawa is against promising to raise the 5 percent sales tax before an upper house election expected in July.
The Democrats, who swept to power last year in a landslide election victory but whose support has since plummeted, are trying to boost the party's fortunes in the upper house election that they need to win to pass bills smoothly.
Still, it was unclear whether a change at the top would improve the Democrats' chances in the upcoming election.
Hatoyama became Japan's fourth straight leader to leave office after a year or less, reminding voters of previous governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party, two of whose leaders threw in the towel after about a year in the job.
Kan, a former health minister once known for battling bureaucrats, has forged an image as a fiscal conservative and occasional central bank critic since assuming the finance post in January.
That could raise the chances of bolder steps to rein in a public debt already about twice the size of Japan's GDP, a stance investors and many voters would welcome, although he is hardly a fresh face.
The yen was under pressure today after political uncertainty in Japan helped push it to a two-week low against the dollar. Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.8 percent following a rally on Wall Street, but the market was watching closely as the ruling party geared up to pick a new leader.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, who was seen as a potential candidate, told reporters that he would back Kan, who doubles as deputy prime minister, as long as Kan seeks to lessen the influence of Ozawa in a new government.
Shinji Tarutoko, 50, who heads the lower house environment committee, told his supporters that he would run for the party head, local news agencies said. But not much is known about his views on economic policy.
Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, whose name had been floated by media as a possible successor to Hatoyama, said he would not run and would instead back Kan.
Japan's new leader will face a tough task keeping ties with Washington on track, since Hatoyama's deal with Washington to shift a US airbase to northern Okinawa is staunchly opposed by local residents and will be hard to implement.
Kan, in his role as finance minister, has distanced himself from the base row, and his views on foreign policy and national security are less well-known.
A new cabinet is expected to be formed tomorrow.
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