NAOTO KAN BECOMES JAPAN`S NEW PRIME MINISTER

04.06.2010 [15:25]
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Baku, June 4 (AZERTAC). Japanese lawmakers have elected Naoto Kan as the country`s new prime minister, two days after the surprise resignation of Yukio Hatoyama.

Mr Kan, the outgoing finance minister, promised a "new start" after ruling Democratic Party (DPJ) members chose him as their new leader.

He becomes Japan`s fifth prime minister in three years. Mr Hatoyama resigned as prime minister on Wednesday in a dispute over a US military base in southern Japan. He had promised to move the airbase off Okinawa island, but failed to find an acceptable compromise to please locals and the US. In a speech to DPJ members on Friday, Mr Kan said the alliance with the US would remain the "cornerstone" of Japan`s diplomacy, but he made no pledges about the base.

"Prime Minister Hatoyama opened the door for a new DPJ to be built," Mr Kan was quoted as saying by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. "We have to rebuild the party and make a brand new start."

NAOTO KAN BECOMES JAPAN`S NEW PRIME MINISTER

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