Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Japan elects new premier amid rebuilding, atomic crisis


By Deutsche Presse Agentur


Tokyo (dpa) - Japan's parliament elected Yoshihiko Noda the nation's new prime minister Tuesday after his victory in the party leadership race the previous day.

Noda, the sixth prime minister in five years, succeeded Naoto Kan. Kan's cabinet resigned en masse Tuesday morning to pave the way for Noda, who served as finance minister under his predecessor.
The new premier hinted he would pick names for three key posts within the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Tuesday, local media reported.
On Monday, Noda won the DPJ leadership election, defeating Industry Minister Banri Kaieda in a runoff.
Noda, largely unknown abroad, will have to tackle daunting tasks facing the nation, such as the ongoing crisis at a damaged nuclear plant and reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, which ravaged the north-east.
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station has leaked radioactive material since it was hit by the disaster which left 15,745 dead and 4,467 missing.

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