Japan's new Prime Minister sworn in
Updated
Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama has been sworn in as Japan's 60th Prime Minister, he succeeds Taro Aso whose Liberal Democratic Party lost power for the first time in almost five decades.
Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speakers: Richard Tanter, Nautilous Institute; Richard Jerram, Chief Economist Macquarie Securities; Masamichi Adachi, Senior Economist JP Morgan; Taro Aso, outgoing Japanese Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, Japanese Prime Minister
- Listen:
- Windows Media
SNOWDON: On his first day as Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama greeted reporters.
HATOYAMA: I am excited by the prospect of changing history he said I also feel the weight of the responsibility of making history.
SNOWDON: The man he beat for the top job, outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso summed up the challenges facing his replacement.
ASO: I hope the new cabinet will take good measures to secure economic recovery, he said.Also, the international situation surrounding Japan has been changing . So, I hope the new regime will deal with the issues such as terrorism and piracy in an appropriate manner.
SNOWDON: International relations has even more challenges than terrorism and piracy for Japan.
New Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya is an experienced politician who's certain to bring a change of tone to the important relationship with the United States.
Richard Tanter, North Asia Security analyst with the Nautilus Institute says the Minister will push the new government's demand a more equal partnership with the US and will have to tackle the question of Japan's deployment in Afghanistan.
TANTER: He's going to be pushing very much for a calmer, more equal approach and this is something both what the left and the right in Japanese politics want. They felt for many years the Americans don't treat them the same way, as do they treat, for example, Germany within NATO. Otherwise the big issue is going to be about Afghanistan and the naval deployment in the Indian Ocean is winding up. I think they will also resist American pressure to send troops to Afghanistan. Other than that, I don't think we are going to see great structural changes in that relationship.
SNOWDON: Richard Tanter says climate change will be a major focus of regional policy for the new administration.
TANTER: One key issue which is going to involve Japan, China and the United States is climate change. The DJP has announced it is going to push very hard, compared with its predecessor.
SNOWDON: The landslide election win by the Democratic Party carried a clear message from voters the old saying "its the economy stupid" could apply.
The government is burdened by a mountain of debt but its promised to boost social welfare payments, deal with record unemployment and revive the economy without raising taxes.
At the age of 77 Hirohisa Fujii has taken on what some would say is the impossible job.
As the new Finance Minister he brings a lot of experience from 20 years in the finance ministry, a controlling bureaucracy he's promised reform.
Mr Fujii was also Finance Minister briefly in the nineties. He's been a vocal critic of the previous government's stimulus spending and is not a fan of earlier free market reforms.
His experience makes him a good choice according to Richard Jerram, Chief Economist with Macquarie Securities.
JERRAM: The hope is he will actually know how to really control the finance ministry in terms of budget formation and perhaps in terms of trying to make some of these cost savings that will be necessary
SNOWDON: Options to revive the stagnant economy are limited given Japan's aging population and the increasing demands on social spending. Masamichi Adachi is a Senior Economist with JP Morgan
ADACHI: The only solution we can expect is to improve productivity and that means the growth rate of the whole economy. So challenges for the new government are significantly difficult.
SNOWDON: Wont taxes have to rise?
ADACHI: Yes one day yes, but at the moment the new government is now saying its trying to reduce waste instead of raising the tax.
SNOWDON: But its inevitable in the longer term?
ADACHI: Yes at least four years because that's the commitment of the new government at the moment.
SNOWDON: In choosing his cabinet Mr Hatoyama has surprised commentators with his new minister for banking supervision and postal services.
Shizuka Kamei heads a small coalition party needed to give the government a majority in the Upper house.
Masamichi Adachi says Mr Kamei has no experience in finance and some of his more outlandish comments in the past have made people nervous.
He says plans to reverse the privatisation of the postal service which could unlock trillions of yen in savings are not popular.
ADACHI: No way
