The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has retained Prime Minister Naoto Kan as the party leader, leaving faction heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa in the cold. This is old news. The party last week had a party meeting to test the popularity of each leader in the party, and Kan retained his winning lead, largely due to the lost credibility of Ozawa, in response to corruption links.
Just yesterday, Kan announced that he had appointed a new cabinet, which included 10 new faces among the 17 members. It is noteworthy that the new team will result in a weakening of Ozawa's power in the cabinet. It will of course mean a fresh start for Kan, and possibly the start of a new era if he can restore confidence in the party.
Refer to the Japan Times for the full story.
Recently we reported on a different path to reform in the Liberal Democratic Party. The LDP has experienced an increase of MPs migrating to new parties. This break up of old political ties is destined to create all manner of new relationships, both with the main LDP party, and perhaps even with the DPJ. This could see some of these smaller parties controlling the balance of power. It should assist the Japanese parliament find some new leadership talent.
