Japan has a new government Friday in slightly modified, under the direction of the center-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan, aiming to boost growth and reduce debt. The new team of Mr. Khan, who succeeds the one named fewer than four months, is composed as the previous 17 members, four of whom are entering the government.Holders of key ministries - foreign affairs, defense and finance - have retained their portfolios. The only real novelty is the arrival of a former finance minister of the opposition conservative Kaoru Yosano, 72, favors a tax increase on consumption, the post of Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy .
"The reshuffle comes at a particularly difficult time for Japan," said Yukio Edano to the media, new spokesman for the government and as such, number two in government. "There is a good balance between young and old. This will allow each of us to do his best," he said. The other two new entrants are Satsuki Eda, who was appointed minister of justice, and Kansei Nakano, appointed to head the national commission on public safety.
Furthermore, the outgoing Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Akihiro Ohata, reticent towards Japan's accession to the Partnership free trade transpacific (TPP) exchange portfolio and inherits the Department of Transportation. The job is assigned to Banri Kaieda, who served as Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy in the outgoing government.
Four officers bear the brunt of this adjustment: the former spokesman Yoshito Sengoku, former transport minister, Sumio Mabuchi, former Justice Minister Minoru Yanagida and former president of the National Commission public safety, Tomiko Okazaki. The opposition had threatened to boycott the budget debates in parliament if Mr.
Sengoku Mabuchi and remained in government. The right-wing parties accuse them of mishandling a naval incident with China in September 2010 around islands claimed by Beijing and Tokyo. After only seven months in office, Mr. Kan, 64, is plummeting in the polls. He is counting on the arrival of Mr.
Yosano to help finance minister Noda Yohihiko to restore fiscal balance in the country. Mr. Yosano was finance minister in the last Conservative government of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the DPJ's election victory of Mr. Kan late August 2009. He resigned Thursday in the small part of the Sunrise, founded by a handful of dissidents from the LDP.
Japan's public debt rises to about 200% of GDP, a problem expected to worsen with the aging population will influence the welfare and health systems. The DPJ is pressed to push its record budget of more than 92,400 billion yen (850 billion euros) for the financial year to April 2011 to March 2012, nearly half will be financed by debt.
But the rightwing opposition, led by the LDP and New Komeito, control the Senate and could slow down the proceedings.
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