Hatoyama meets with Aso on handover of power, in hurry on appointments

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TOKYO, Sept. 14 Kyodo -
Two days ahead of the launch of his Cabinet, Democratic Party of Japan leader
Yukio Hatoyama met with outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso on Monday to seek his
cooperation for a smooth handover of power, while Aso offered encouragement to
the next Japanese leader.
Hatoyama also held last-minute talks with DPJ Acting President Ichiro Ozawa,
set to become the party's next secretary general, at its headquarters,
concerning the appointments for the Cabinet and the party's leadership.
''I told my idea on the Cabinet appointments to Acting President Ozawa, and he
basically accepted it,'' Hatoyama told reporters after meeting with Ozawa, who
is believed to be controlling the 11-year-old party from behind the scenes.
But the prime minister in waiting declined to make further comments on their
decision, including who would take up the post of finance minister.
The DPJ is, meanwhile, slated to hold a general meeting Tuesday afternoon to
finalize the appointments for the top party posts.
In the early afternoon, Hatoyama and Aso, who is president of the Liberal
Democratic Party, met in parliament along with Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo
Kawamura of the LDP and his successor Hirofumi Hirano of the DPJ.
''I would like you to give me guidance and advice as a former prime minister,''
Hatoyama was quoted by Hirano as telling Aso during the 20-minute talks.
Hatoyama also asked Aso for advice on diplomacy ahead of his scheduled trip to
attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York and the Group of 20 financial
summit in Pittsburgh.
Aso responded, ''I hope you will work hard and will not take the wrong
direction'' in foreign policy, international finance and national security,
according to Hirano.
Hatoyama said in the evening that the two talked mainly about foreign and
national security issues and that Aso was worried about the North Korean
nuclear and abduction problems.
The outgoing premier said the Pyongyang Declaration issued by the two countries
in 2002 ''is still alive and that the incoming government should stick to it,''
according to Hirano.
The DPJ won 308 seats in the 480-member House of Representatives in the Aug. 30
general election, ousting the LDP from power for only the second time in the
LDP's 54-year history.
Hatoyama is set to be voted in as next prime minister in a special
parliamentary session on Wednesday, after Aso's Cabinet resigns en masse in the
morning.
A focus of discussion on Hatoyama's Cabinet lineup has been the post of finance
minister, which will become one of the key posts in the Cabinet and has yet to
be decided on.
But Hatoyama only said to reporters, ''I can't tell you about it. I'm still
keeping it a secret.''
DPJ Supreme Adviser and former Finance Ministry bureaucrat Hirohisa Fujii has
been floated as a possible candidate, but Ozawa has expressed caution over the
choice, according to DPJ officials.
The party's policy chief, Masayuki Naoshima, who is almost certain to become
the economy, trade and industry minister, may take up the post of finance
minister instead, the officials said.
The leaders of the DPJ's two coalition parties are also slated to join his
Cabinet.
Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima, a strong advocate of
employment concerns, is demanding the post of environment minister, while
People's New Party chief Shizuka Kamei, who opposes postal privatization
reforms, is seeking the post of internal affairs and communications minister in
charge of the issue.
''I have a number of ideas in my mind, but will make a decision myself,''
Hatoyama said.
Hatoyama has already decided to appoint DPJ Acting President Naoto Kan as
minister in charge of the planned National Strategy Bureau, a policymaking
bureau to lay out budgets and basic policies, Secretary General Katsuya Okada
as foreign minister and Hatoyama's top aide, Hirano, as chief Cabinet
secretary.
==Kyodo
2009-09-14 23:35:00