Naoto Kan Remains Prime Minister of Japan
Ichiro Ozawa’s attempt to replace Naoto Kan as leader of the Democratic Party of Japan has failed:
Kan was announced the winner of Tuesday’s nail-biting party presidential vote at 3:40 pm. He garnered a total vote of 721 compared to Ozawa’s 491. As expected, Kan won a majority of support among party staff, regional representatives and supporters. But he also won majority support of the DPJ’s 411 Diet members, which counted for about two-thirds of the overall result.
Kan’s position is secure for now, but he still has some tough work ahead of him:
The tight race among parliament members shows that, even though Mr. Kan won the vote, he now has to focus on healing party wounds from a bruising two-week campaign. Political analysts have said that unless Mr. Ozawa and his supporters are given prominent posts in the cabinet and party, they could split from the DPJ. That would further complicate Mr. Kan’s ability to pass stimulus measures and other legislation through parliament, following a setback in July elections.
“Having witnessed the shaky ground he stands on, opposition parties are licking their chops to begin their attacks on Mr. Kan,” said Koichi Nakano, associate professor of political science at Sophia University. “We are still far from regaining long-time stability in Japanese politics.”
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