[h=1]Japan's prime minister Naoto Kan resigns[/h][h=2]Japan's prime minister Naoto Kan has announced his resignation, paving the way for the nation to get its sixth leader in five years.[/h]
By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo
6:00AM BST 26 Aug 2011
Mr Kan, who came to power in June last year, has faced growing calls for his resignation after his popularity steadily eroded to as low as 15 per cent in the latest polls.
The beleaguered leader handed in his resignation to senior politicians as president of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), effectively ending his tenure as Japans prime minister, according to Kyodo News and local media.
His resignation is expected to mark the start of a weekend of intense campaigning for a new DPJ leader, with as many as nine candidates having expressed interest in competing for the position.
Party elections for the new leader will take place on Monday, before the winner will be voted in by parliament the following day as Japans new prime minister its sixth premier in five years.
Kans resignation is the final and perhaps inevitable chapter of an increasingly unpopular leadership which was sorely tested by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster and challenged by a gridlocked parliament.
It was after narrowly escaping a vote of no confidence in June that Mr Kan agreed to step down following the passing of three key bills a second budget, a financing bill and renewable energies legislation - the final two of which were passed today.
In terms of his successors, current favourites to become the new PM include Seiji Maehara, the popular former foreign minister who stepped down just days before the March 11 disaster over a financing scandal.
However, experts warned that whoever became the nations next prime minister must do all they can to remain in power for longer than Mr Kan in order to create a more stable political foundation.
The latest power change will yet again give the world the impression that Japans leadership is fickle, said Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of politics at Meiji University in Tokyo.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor.../Japans-prime-minister-Naoto-Kan-resigns.html
By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo
6:00AM BST 26 Aug 2011
Mr Kan, who came to power in June last year, has faced growing calls for his resignation after his popularity steadily eroded to as low as 15 per cent in the latest polls.
The beleaguered leader handed in his resignation to senior politicians as president of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), effectively ending his tenure as Japans prime minister, according to Kyodo News and local media.
His resignation is expected to mark the start of a weekend of intense campaigning for a new DPJ leader, with as many as nine candidates having expressed interest in competing for the position.
Party elections for the new leader will take place on Monday, before the winner will be voted in by parliament the following day as Japans new prime minister its sixth premier in five years.
Kans resignation is the final and perhaps inevitable chapter of an increasingly unpopular leadership which was sorely tested by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster and challenged by a gridlocked parliament.
It was after narrowly escaping a vote of no confidence in June that Mr Kan agreed to step down following the passing of three key bills a second budget, a financing bill and renewable energies legislation - the final two of which were passed today.
In terms of his successors, current favourites to become the new PM include Seiji Maehara, the popular former foreign minister who stepped down just days before the March 11 disaster over a financing scandal.
However, experts warned that whoever became the nations next prime minister must do all they can to remain in power for longer than Mr Kan in order to create a more stable political foundation.
The latest power change will yet again give the world the impression that Japans leadership is fickle, said Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of politics at Meiji University in Tokyo.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor.../Japans-prime-minister-Naoto-Kan-resigns.html
