Aso takes power as Japan PM
Thursday, 25 September 2008
TOKYO, Sept 24 (AP): Outspoken conservative Taro Aso took power as Japan's prime minister Wednesday after he overcame opposition forces in a split parliament, tasked with rejuvenating the ailing ruling party ahead of elections.
Aso was chosen as president of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party Monday and had already begun piecing together a Cabinet expected to include a fellow hawk as finance chief.
The 68-year-old former Olympic sharpshooter was declared premier after the LDP-controlled lower house overruled the upper house, which had voted for Ichiro Ozawa, the chief of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
Aso, known for his rightist leanings and acerbic wisecracks, will lead a country wracked by political divisions and spiking concerns over the economy, which has stalled amid the ballooning financial crisis in the United States.
The first task for Aso, who takes over from Yasuo Fukuda after a rocky one year in office, will be to put together a Cabinet capable enough to raise public support ahead of lower house elections that could come before the end of the year.
The initial choices, however, included many of the ruling party operatives who have circulated through previous Cabinets.
Two years ago, Aso and Nakagawa caused a stir by suggesting Japan - whose pacifist constitution forswears war - should have a debate on whether to acquire nuclear weapons. At the same time, Nakagawa called the US atomic attack on Nagasaki 'a crime'.
Aso was chosen as president of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party Monday and had already begun piecing together a Cabinet expected to include a fellow hawk as finance chief.
The 68-year-old former Olympic sharpshooter was declared premier after the LDP-controlled lower house overruled the upper house, which had voted for Ichiro Ozawa, the chief of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
Aso, known for his rightist leanings and acerbic wisecracks, will lead a country wracked by political divisions and spiking concerns over the economy, which has stalled amid the ballooning financial crisis in the United States.
The first task for Aso, who takes over from Yasuo Fukuda after a rocky one year in office, will be to put together a Cabinet capable enough to raise public support ahead of lower house elections that could come before the end of the year.
The initial choices, however, included many of the ruling party operatives who have circulated through previous Cabinets.
Two years ago, Aso and Nakagawa caused a stir by suggesting Japan - whose pacifist constitution forswears war - should have a debate on whether to acquire nuclear weapons. At the same time, Nakagawa called the US atomic attack on Nagasaki 'a crime'.