Japan Retains PM Naoto Kan at The Helm

Now that the leadership dispute within the ruling Democratic party has finally come to an end, PM Kan and his cabinet are now bent on turning their attention to the host of problems that plagued Japan's economy to include an economic malaise, a strong yen, and its emerging dispute with China on collision at the disputed islands. It was also noted that the yen surged anew against the dollar.

Although in some quarters, the result of the election was an indication of strength within the ruling party, but there are major obstacles that PM Kan is facing as the Democrats and its junior coalition partners are not in control of the upper house. Last July elections and this election could possibly render difficulty in passing important legislation that can stimulate Japan's economy. But Kan appealed from his party mates to undertake a unified work force to resolve the present challenges of the country.

On the other hand, Ozawa could have done better but his fate hangs in the balance after his political career was rocked by a political funding scandal, which resulted in his resignation as the second highest in command of the ruling party. Had it been that he won the race, he would have been the third prime minister installed in a year.

Meanwhile, Kan is a noted fiscal disciplinarian who campaigned for a greater transparency in politics. He is generally popular in the public than Ozawa. In fact, surveys conducted reveal that Kan is more preferred than Ozawa by a ratio of 4:1.

Political analysts viewed that the result expressly showed that the rank-and-file members of the party would rather prefer Kan than Ozawa, after the latter was associated with a scandal-marred politics. Political experts however viewed it more independently and preferred Ozawa who could have given the Japanese economy a jolt with his proposed stimulus spending up to more than 2 trillion yen ($23.8 billion). It can be noted that it was Ozawa who engineered the Democratic victory over the LDP last year.