Japan’s finance minister emerged yesterday as the sole strong candidate for the country’s leadership after winning support from key Cabinet colleagues tipped as potential rivals.
Naoto Kan, 63, is widely expected to succeed Yukio Hatoyama today — first as president of the center-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and then, after a parliamentary vote, as prime minister.
Support has built quickly for Kan, who achieved popularity in the mid-1990s when as health minister he admitted government culpability in a scandal over HIV-tainted blood products.
Kan took over as finance minister in January and has since advocated a weak yen and pushed for spending cuts and tax increases to contain ballooning public debt.
Tokyo stocks rose more than three percent yesterday, driven in part by news Kan was likely to take over as premier, brokers said.
Kan, who also serves as deputy prime minister, met Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, who had been seen as his most serious potential rival, and afterwards received his public backing.
Okada said he wanted the next premier to tackle the DPJ’s problems with money politics and exercise strong party leadership.
“Provided these two points are met, I told him, I support Mr Kan,” he said.
Okada said he would want to stay on in his post, telling reporters: “I am dedicating myself to my duties as foreign minister.”
Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, who had been seen as another contender for the premiership, also offered his support.
“Our conclusion is, we will back Mr Kan,” he told reporters.
“We were charged with a mission to shift the direction of Japanese politics when a political power change was achieved last year. Mr Kan has been determined to carry it out firmly,” Maehara said.
Hidekazu Kawai, honorary politics professor at Tokyo’s Gakushuin University, said: “Kan is a suitable candidate for a number of DPJ lawmakers as his succession won’t cause extra confusion in the party.”
“DPJ members don’t want to take unnecessary risks now. As Kan is a deputy prime minister, a smooth transition is expected. No matter who will become the next prime minister, very difficult tasks are waiting. That’s why other potential candidates have hesitated to follow suit,” he said.
The only other declared candidate was Shinji Tarutoko, chairman of the party’s environment committee in the lower house.
Newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported earlier that backing for Kan was widening in the ruling party, while the Tokyo Shimbun daily said Kan’s victory was certain and may be uncontested.
Hatoyama quit on Wednesday after less than nine months in office, ending a term that started with an election victory in which his party ended an almost unbroken half-century of conservative rule.
His support fell after he backtracked on a promise to move a US airbase from Okinawa, enraging people there and the pacifist Social Democrats, who quit the ruling coalition.
The departure of the small party weakened the government in the parliament’s upper house ahead of elections for the chamber slated for July 11.
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