Finance Minister Is Chosen as Japan’s Next LeaderTOKYO —
Japan’s governing party on Monday elected Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda to be its next leader, and thus the nation’s next prime minister, choosing a fiscal hawk who vowed to fix soaring national deficits while also healing paralyzing rifts within the party.
Democratic Party lawmakers chose Mr. Noda over four rival candidates to replace the current prime minister, Naoto Kan, who failed to galvanize Japan after the devastating earthquake and nuclear accident in March. Mr. Noda is expected to win a vote in Parliament as early as Tuesday to formally become prime minister.
On Monday, Mr. Noda won the second and final vote by a tally of 215 to 177, defeating his last remaining rival, the trade minister, Banri Kaieda.
Mr. Noda has presented himself as a pro-business, fiscal conservative who would raise taxes and cut spending in order to rein in Japan’s huge national debt, which now totals twice the size of its economy. He said that Japan must join the European Union and the United States in rectifying spending imbalances in order to overcome the current instability in global financial markets.
“This is not just an election to choose the next president of the Democratic Party,” Mr. Noda told party lawmakers, “but also to choose a Japanese prime minister who will face a veritable national crisis of a strong yen and deflation, disaster recovery and reconstruction, a nuclear accident.”
In his victory speech, he also struck a tone of reconciliation within the party, which has been divided into camps for or against the party’s shadowy kingmaker, Ichiro Ozawa, who faces trial in a political funding scandal. Mr. Kaieda had supported Mr. Ozawa, while another candidate, Seiji Maehara, a former foreign minister, was against him.
Mr. Noda had avoided taking sides in the dispute, calling instead for the party to pull together to avoid the political paralysis that has hindered Japan’s response to its huge national problems.
“Let us end the politics of resentment,” Mr. Noda said. “Let’s make a more stable and reliable political leadership.”
On Monday, Mr. Noda won the second and final vote by a tally of 215 to 177, defeating his last remaining rival, the trade minister, Banri Kaieda.
Mr. Noda has presented himself as a pro-business, fiscal conservative who would raise taxes and cut spending in order to rein in Japan’s huge national debt, which now totals twice the size of its economy. He said that Japan must join the European Union and the United States in rectifying spending imbalances in order to overcome the current instability in global financial markets.
“This is not just an election to choose the next president of the Democratic Party,” Mr. Noda told party lawmakers, “but also to choose a Japanese prime minister who will face a veritable national crisis of a strong yen and deflation, disaster recovery and reconstruction, a nuclear accident.”
In his victory speech, he also struck a tone of reconciliation within the party, which has been divided into camps for or against the party’s shadowy kingmaker, Ichiro Ozawa, who faces trial in a political funding scandal. Mr. Kaieda had supported Mr. Ozawa, while another candidate, Seiji Maehara, a former foreign minister, was against him.
Mr. Noda had avoided taking sides in the dispute, calling instead for the party to pull together to avoid the political paralysis that has hindered Japan’s response to its huge national problems.
“Let us end the politics of resentment,” Mr. Noda said. “Let’s make a more stable and reliable political leadership.”
Political analysts also pointed out that Mr. Noda, 54, was part of a younger generation of lawmakers than Mr. Ozawa and the party’s two previous prime ministers, Mr. Kan and Yukio Hatoyama. Some expressed optimism that Mr. Noda represented a changing of the guard within the party that could revitalize it after appearing to lack direction and resolve under both Mr. Hatoyama and Mr. Kan.
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