Japan

Taro Aso voted in as PM; will tackle recession

Article published on the 2008-09-22 Latest update 2008-09-22 13:30 TU

PM-elect Taro Aso
(Credit: Reuters)

Conservative Taro Aso, a former foreign minister, swept two-thirds of the vote to become Japan's new prime minister-elect on Monday, as he emphasised his quest for an economic revival. The 68-year-old proposed increased government spending and tax cuts in his brief acceptance speech. Aso won the vote over the four other candidates, including a female contender.

His thumbs-up from the Liberal Democratic Party, who controls the lower house of parliament paves the way for him to replace beleaguered current Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in a parliamentary session on Wednesday.

The former head of a cement company, Aso's supporters have pinned their hopes that he will bring Japan out of the worst crisis and avoid a recession.

"I felt recession when travelling around the country. I felt certain that the economy was in decline," Aso said in his first news conference since the vote. He predicted that it would take about three years to get the Japanese economy to a healthy level.

His plan to increase government spending is part of efforts to boost the economy, contrary to what ruling party reformists have advocated. The soaring social welfare costs are largely tied to the rapidly ageing Japanese society.

"The Japanese medical system is in a hell of a mess...what the government is now proposing a new system for people over age 65 but people have lost a lot of trust and a lot of faith in the bureaucrats," said correspondent Julian Ryall from Tokyo. 

"The agency in charge of Japan's pensions has has lost or mislaid lots of info on thousands and thousands of individual taxpayers, and they've essentially have lost their pensions," he added.