TOKYO — Japan’s newly empowered leader Yukio Hatoyama rushed today to select Cabinet ministers and start making good on promises to revive the world’s second-largest economy after his party’s historic trouncing of the ruling conservatives.
Hatoyama, who also has signaled he wants to redefine Tokyo’s diplomacy to make it less reliant on Washington, said in a victory speech late Sunday he would focus on a quick and smooth transition and make a priority of choosing the nation’s next finance minister.
He spoke only briefly with reporters today before huddling with his party leaders.
Prime Minister Taro Aso, conceding defeat, said he would step down as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
“I have no plan to run for re-election,” Aso said. His successor is expected to be named late next month. “The most important thing is rejuvenating our party.”
Although the nation gave the Democrats a landslide win, most voters were seen as venting dissatisfaction with the Liberal Democratic Party and the status quo more than they were endorsing the policies of the opposition.
The Liberal Democrats have governed Japan for virtually all of the past 54 years.
The Democrats will also face next year an election for the less powerful upper house of parliament. They have controlled that chamber with two smaller allies since 2007, but if they fail to deliver quickly on their promises, the Liberal Democrats could resurge.
Official results were still being counted, but exit polls by all major media said Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan had won more than 300 of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament. That would easily be enough to ensure that he is installed as prime minister in a special session of parliament that is expected to be held in mid-September.
The task ahead for the Democrats is daunting.
Japan managed to climb out of a yearlong recession in the second quarter, but its economy remains weak. Unemployment and anxiety over falling wages threatens to undermine any recovery. The jobless rate has risen to a record 5.7 percent.
In the long term, it faces a bleak outlook if it isn’t able to cope with a rapidly aging and shrinking population. Government estimates predict the figure will drop to 115 million in 2030 and fall below 100 million by the middle of the century.
