After a couple of months since the Tohoku disaster last March and criticisms judging his leadership capabilities while in crisis, Naoto Kan finally resigns as Japan’s Prime Minister with just 14 months in office. Kan states that he has managed to fulfill his position as Prime Minister and two of his three key legislations passed despite the opposition from the Liberal Democratic Party ruling most of the seats in both legislative branches. He believed that he had done everything that he could and it is time for Japan to have a new leadership that would continue what he has failed or missed upon his reign. The position was then thought to be given to either former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda or to Trade Minister Banri Kaieda.
Just three days after Kan’s announcement on August 27, the Japanese Parliament has elected Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda as the next prime minister to replace Kan, the sixth Prime Minister to leave his position just after a year in office. He also left a troubled country in the midst of recovery. Noda stressed that higher taxes would be better to fund tsunami reconstruction and relief efforts rather than borrowing money for funding. He has not given enough details as to his position on nuclear power phase-out as Kan wanted to work on, giving his opinion that there is a need to stop construction of other power plants. Considering the state of Japan at present, Noda is expected to revive Japan’s weakening economy since the tsunami disaster, reconstruct major cities and installations ruined by the disaster and to secure the Fukushima plants. Noda knows that there are a lot of low expectations regarding his background and former position and his support would be unlike his predecessors but he believes that he like a bottom-feeding fish that hunts down for his food not a goldfish who just waits for its food to enter its mouth. An expert believes that Noda is a safe choice as PM considering his low profile and popularity.
Analysts believe that Noda would be facing a lot of challenges when he is officially appointed as PM by the Emperor aside from the aftermath of the country’s weakened economy and the tsunami disaster. He also faces a battling Parliament, where the LDP is constantly trying to use their influence over the upper house to block each policy by the ruling party DPJ. Despite their misgivings regarding Kan’s leadership, they stressed that Noda would be capable in making up for the delays the previous government has not finished. Noda would also have to create a new budget to sustain recovery from the Tohoku disaster . Upon his induction to office, Noda has selected members from the opposition and retained some from the previous administration to appease the ongoing tensions between the different parties in his Parliament. The new cabinet is also selected to help the country recover from the disasters caused by the nuclear crisis, the tsunami and the weak economy which has also been affected . Noda’s administration may only succeed depending on his capability of handling his Cabinet and Parliament and if he can create recovery strategies for the country to revive its former glory before the tsunami disaster. The country must also have a leader that would last long to unite each party so that they may enact the proper laws needed to recover. At the moment, Japan has not yet seen a permanent PM that can last longer than a year in office.
Works Cited
Associated Press. "Japan's prime minister Kan resigns amid public dismay". MSNBC Online. 26 August 2011. 7 September 2011
Herman, Steve. "Japan's Parliament Selects New PM." Voice of America News. 30 August 2011. 7 September 2011
McCurry, Justin. "Japan parliament elects Yoshihiko Noda as prime minister." The Guardian. 30 August 2011. 7 September 2011
Nishiyama, George and Takashi Mochizuki. "New Leader in Tokyo Choose Cabinet." Wall Street Journal. 3 September 2011. 7 September 2011
Tabuchi, Hiroko. "Japanese Parliament Backs Noda as Prime Minister." The New York Times. 30 August 2011. 7 September 2011
