New Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, riding high on opinion poll ratings above 60 percent, was to unveil key posts in his center-left party yesterday, the eve of the formal launch of his government.
He succeeded Yukio Hatoyama on Friday to become Japan’s fifth prime minister in four years after Hatoyama stumbled over a dispute about a US airbase and became mired in political funding scandals.
Kan, who previously served as Hatoyama’s finance minister, will formally launch his Cabinet today when Emperor Akihito will swear in the new prime minister and his ministers at a palace ceremony.
Many key ministers are expected to stay in their current posts, including Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and Transport Minister Seiji Maehara.
Kan is expected to name his former deputy, 52-year-old fiscal hawk Yoshihiko Noda, to head the finance ministry as pressure mounts to revive the world’s No. 2 economy and slash mounting public debt.
Yesterday, Kan planned to announce key posts in his ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) after a general meeting of DPJ lawmakers.
“Reflecting his own style, our new prime minister Kan is now going ahead with a lineup that can meet people’s expectations,” Azuma Koshiishi, a senior figure of the DPJ, told reporters.
Public support for Kan, a one-time leftist activist, surged to 66.7 percent, compared with 20 percent or less for the Hatoyama Cabinet, according to an opinion poll by TV network Tokyo Broadcasting System.
Some 70 percent supported the resignation last week of millionaire-prime minister Hatoyama, and 27 percent said they would vote for Kan’s DPJ, up from 16 percent last month, in upper house elections next month, the broadcaster said.
When Hatoyama resigned, he took controversial party secretary general Ichiro Ozawa, dubbed the “Shadow Shogun,” with him, as both had become mired in funding scandals that resulted in the arrests of close aides.
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