Japan's ruling party Tuesday selected incumbent Prime Minister Naoto Kan to continue as premier in a close election. Kan, who took office only three months ago, received more support from party rank and file members and local officials, while power broker Ichiro Ozawa garnered nearly the same backing of MPs within the Democratic Party. Kan said there was much work yet to do:
"Japan is in the midst of great troubles. Let's rebuild Japan into a healthy country, to pass it on to the next generation. Thanks to your support and help. I feel I've now reaffirmed my will to tackle my job with all I have. "
The DPJ have swept the power last year promising change, but ran into a variety of authority issues that forced the early exit of former Premier Yukio Hatoyama. Kan now must first try to unify the party. And then RBS's Chief Economist Junko Nishioka says a number of hurdles will lie ahead:
"Actually before the election, both sides, I mean, Mr.Kan and Mr.Ozama has declared that they are going to form a unified party after the election. So I think there is no other way then for them to other than to unify the party. And the point is that which position the Mr.Kan is going to appoint Mr.Ozawa. "
The sixty-eight year old Ozawa had pledged to curb the Yen's rise and launch economic stimulus plans or the sixty-three year old Kan push fiscal restrain to reign in a ten- trillion-dollar debt. The Yen had touched a fifteen-year high against the dollar ahead of the result while Japanese shares edged down slightly.
Dan Sloan, Reuters, Tokyo.
