Japanese ruling Democratic Party lawmakers manoeuvred on Thursday 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 on Friday 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. Ozawa, widely seen as pulling the strings behind Hatoyama's government, quit on Wednesday as party secretary-general.
But as the de facto chief of the Democrats' biggest bloc of lawmakers, his backing could prove key. 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.
It was unclear whether a change at the top would improve the Democrats' chances in the upcoming election.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.Japan's new leader will face a tough task keeping ties with Washington on track, since Hatoyama's deal with Washington to shift a U.S. airbase to northern Okinawa is staunchly opposed by local residents and will be hard to implement.A new cabinet is expected to be formed on Friday.
source by-reuters.com
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