New Japan PM faces hurdles on economy, US ties

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-16 15:35

Japan's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (2nd R) arrives at the premier's official residence in Tokyo September 16, 2009. Hatoyama was voted in as prime minister by parliament's lower house on Wednesday, ushering in an untested government to deal with a struggling economy and the deep-seated problems of a fast-ageing population. [Agencies]

TOKYO: Japan's Yukio Hatoyama was voted in as prime minister by parliament's lower house on Wednesday, ushering in an untested government to deal with a struggling economy and the deep-seated problems of a fast-ageing population.

Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) trounced the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in an election last month, faces pressure to make good on campaign promises to focus spending on consumers, cut waste and reduce bureaucrat control over policy.

Hatoyama, 62, wearing his lucky gold, silver and blue striped tie and signature pocket handkerchief, stood and bowed after the vote.

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"I have mixed feelings of excitement about changing history and the very heavy responsibility of making history," said Hatoyama, whose party ousted the LDP for only the second time since its founding in 1955.

"The fight begins now," he said as he left home earlier.

Hatoyama's cabinet, a delicate balance of former Liberal Democrats, ex-socialists and younger conservatives, must hit the ground running.

"The DPJ has got to come up with an agreed list of priorities quickly, because its manifesto is just a long laundry list," said Koichi Nakano, a professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

"And it better not just be how they will govern differently, but actual policies," he added. "They can expect something of a honeymoon for a year, but not longer than that."

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