Japan’s new center-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan yesterday unveiled his Cabinet and vowed to create a “vigorous country,” restore its public finances and mend strained US relations.
Kan — a onetime left-wing activist who takes over as Japan’s fifth prime minister in four years — was sworn in later yesterday by Emperor Akihito along with his Cabinet, which he dubbed his “people’s militia.”
The new leader signaled he wanted to rebuild US ties damaged by a row over a US airbase that led to the tearful resignation of his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, last week after less than nine months in office.
The post-World War II Japan-US security alliance is “the cornerstone” of Tokyo’s diplomacy, Kan said days after speaking with US President Barack Obama.
Hatoyama stepped down after reneging on an election pledge to move the unpopular Futenma airbase off Okinawa Island, giving in to Washington’s demands but enraging locals and splitting his ruling coalition.
“Japan and the United States have reached an agreement [on the Futenma issue,” Kan said, “and we have to work based on that, but I will do my best to ease the burden for the people of Okinawa.”
On the economic front, Kan said Japan’s investment “bubble” had burst 20 years ago and the country now suffers more than 30,000 suicides a year, pledging: “I want to rehabilitate Japan drastically and create a vigorous country.”
With public debt nearly twice the size of its GDP, a ratio far worse than that of cash-strapped Greece, he said that “rebuilding financial health is essential for Japan’s economy.”
“We are continuing to gather debt. This problem should be handled as the country’s biggest topic. This kind of problem goes beyond party politics,” he said.
Announcing his new Cabinet, the former finance minister chose his deputy, fiscal hawk Yoshihiko Noda, to succeed him as the steward of Asia’s biggest economy.
In a show of continuity from the previous administration, Kan kept 11 of 17 ministers in their posts, including Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, but he also added some new, younger members.
Among the new picks are Renho, a former model and television announcer who gained widespread popularity in the media as she grilled bureaucrats in public budget debates last year.
A rising star among the Democrats, Renho, 42 will be the youngest member of the new Cabinet, becoming minister of administrative reforms. Her father is Taiwanese and she goes by one name.
“She’s pretty impressive. She was sharp as a knife when she was going at her questioning,” said Sheila Smith, a senior fellow at Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington.
Another key figure is the new Cabinet Secretary Yoshihito Sengoku, a persuasive speaker whose job it will be to bring together and articulate Kan’s key objectives — a job many analysts believe he will excel at.
“Sengoku is Mr Policy Wonk. He’s very smart and policy-savvy,” Smith said. “He very committed to the changes in governance structure, the kinds of issues that DPJ [Democratic Party of Japan] wants to engage in — transparency, accountability, how to make longer-term, solid planning in policy. He’s an important part of the puzzle.”
Kan, popular for his plain-speaking style, is riding an early wave of support, with approval rates above 60 percent, after pledging to clean house in his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
With just weeks to go until upper house elections, Kan has reshuffled the party leadership to sideline DPJ heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa, dubbed the “Shadow Shogun,” whose funding scandals have damaged the party’s credibility.
Kan is likely to make his international debut at G8 and G20 summit meetings in Canada at the end of the month. He does not intend to visit the Shanghai Expo this weekend as Hatoyama had planned to do, reports said.
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