New leadership of Japan's ruling party under Noda launched+

TOKYO, Aug. 31 Kyodo -
The Democratic Party of Japan launched its new leadership Wednesday under its President Yoshihiko Noda, with the ruling party's No. 2 post of secretary general handed to Azuma Koshiishi, a close ally of party power broker Ichiro Ozawa.
With DPJ lawmakers from both chambers of the Diet approving the appointments to key posts, including former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara as policy chief, Noda is gearing up to choose his Cabinet's members including filling the pivotal post of chief Cabinet secretary, who serves as top government spokesman.
Speaking at a meeting of DPJ parliamentarians from the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, Noda underscored the importance of party unity, saying, ''It is necessary to create a structure that will enable each and every member to fully demonstrate their ability.''
Noda is banking on Koshiishi, the 75-year-old leader of the caucus of DPJ legislators in the upper house, to play a crucial role in bridging the gap within the party between lawmakers close to Ozawa and those critical of the head of the largest intraparty group, who is a vocal critic of outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The rift widened under the leadership of Kan, who filled his Cabinet with lawmakers distant from Ozawa.
Koshiishi pledged to do his utmost to establish harmony within the party.
''I would like Mr. Ozawa to cope together with the challenges'' Japan is facing, Koshiishi told reporters after the meeting of the DPJ's upper and lower house lawmakers on Wednesday, adding, ''We'll discuss what we should do for that purpose.''
Ozawa appears to be satisfied with the party's new leadership, saying ''this is good,'' according to a lawmaker.
Joining Koshiishi and Maehara, 49, in the DPJ executive lineup are former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, 62, as Diet affairs chief, and Shinji Tarutoko, 52, former chairman of Diet affairs, as acting secretary general.
In the DPJ presidential election Monday, Noda won in a runoff against Ozawa-backed Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda, with a promise to boost party unity and strengthen cooperation with opposition parties.
After arranging the party's lineup, Noda has scaled up efforts to select his Cabinet members, considering who could help him attain his goals of restoring the country's deteriorating fiscal health and reconstructing the areas hit by the March quake-tsunami disaster.
Postal reform minister Shozaburo Jimi, a member of the DPJ's coalition partner the People's New Party, is expected to keep his post.
Noda is planning to form his Cabinet on Friday.
Still, the support of the opposition camp, which dominates the upper house, is needed to pass key legislation in the divided parliament.
On Thursday, Noda is expected to meet separately with the heads of the two main opposition parties to call for their cooperation in facilitating discussions on legislation.
The new premier is eyeing the formation of a grand coalition government with the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party in the future, but LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki has ruled out the possibility of it.
''Mr. Noda won't discuss a grand coalition'' at the meetings, a senior DPJ lawmaker said.
Noda plans to convene an extraordinary session of the Diet on Sept. 12 to deliver his policy speech and for interpellations by party representatives, while the LDP and the New Komeito party are aiming to convene the session on Sept. 9, government sources said.
As top priorities, Noda has indicated he will work to compile and pass the third supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 aimed at full-fledged reconstruction following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, while trying to build good relations with the two main opposition parties.
The launch of the DPJ's new leadership coincided with the end on Wednesday of the ordinary Diet session. Its final weeks saw the enactment of vital legislation such as a bill to allow the government to issue deficit-covering bonds in fiscal 2011, which the opposition agreed to help pass in exchange for Kan's resignation.
Kan resigned Friday amid criticism over his handling of the government's response to the March disaster that ravaged vast areas in northeastern Japan and triggered the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
Japan's political landscape greatly changed during the 220-day Diet session, with Kan stepping down and his successor, Noda, being named prime minister by parliament on Tuesday.
The 177th parliament session opened Jan. 24 and was set to run through late June, but was extended by 70 days because of the need to pass bills vital to the rebuilding effort.