NAOTO KAN vowed last night to tackle Japan’s crushing public debt, mend strained relations with Washington and “minimise unhappiness” in his first televised press conference as prime minister.
“The role of politics is to remove the elements that make people unhappy,” said Mr Kan (63), a former finance minister who took over from Yukio Hatoyama as Japan’s fifth prime minister in four years last week.
But his decision to abide by a deal with Washington over the construction of an unpopular US military base – the issue that brought Mr Hatoyama down – has already displeased the citizens of Japan’s southernmost prefecture Okinawa, which will host the facility. Protesters on the island prefecture last night said they would continue to fight plans to build the huge heliport off the fishing village of Heneko.
“Mr Kan will meet the same resistance as his predecessor,” warned Makishi Yoshikazu, an anti-base activist.
Mr Kan, a former grassroots activist who once took part in anti-base protests on Okinawa, said Tokyo’s 60-year alliance with Washington is “the linchpin” of the nation’s security policy. “We need to stick with this,” he said.
The new prime minister will be hoping to avoid getting ensnared in the base row and focus instead on restoring public finances and reducing Japan’s debt – the worst in the industrialised world at nearly 200 per cent of gross domestic product. Last night, he called it the nation’s “greatest challenge” and blamed Japan’s two-decade economic and social drift on a lack of political leadership.
“There is a feeling that Japan is being crushed. I have to fundamentally rebuild Japan and put society and the economy back on its feet,” he said before he and his new cabinet were formally sworn in by Emperor Akihito. Many are expecting Mr Kan to raise taxes and cut spending, though he is likely to wait until after upper house elections next month. His Democratic Party (DPJ) faces a voter backlash after nine months in office marred by scandals and broken promises on Okinawa.
He is also likely to continue his predecessor’s battle against the civil service and wasteful government spending, reflected in his appointment of fiscal firebrand Renho as minister for administrative reforms.
A former swimsuit model, the single-named politician has made a name for herself publicly grilling elite bureaucrats over budget requests. Mr Kan has retained 11 out of 17 of Mr Hatoyama’s cabinet, but promoted Yoshiko Noda to finance minister and made Yoshito Sengoku the new chief cabinet secretary. Political observers said the changes were made to reduce the influence of Ichiro Ozawa, the so-called DPJ “shadow shogun” blamed for denting the party’s popularity in the polls.
Japan’s press has dubbed Mr Kan, who comes from humble origins, the “salary-man prime minister.” He starts his new government with approval ratings of over 60 per cent, but admitted he had no illusions about the task ahead.