After suggesting at the start of the week that he would hold off on announcing appointments, Hatoyama Yukio, a day after announcing that Ozawa Ichiro would serve as secretary-general of the DPJ, has announced his chief cabinet secretary, Hirano Hirofumi, a five-term representative from Osaka.Hirano is one of Hatoyama's three closest lieutenants, along with Ozawa …
Continue reading Hatoyama, changing his mind, will appoint senior officials quickly
The general election may be another four days away, but the DPJ's position in the polls seems secure and so the party is acting like a "responsible party" and putting plans in motion for its transition into government.I have already written of the names mentioned for the leading positions in a Hatoyama cabinet — but …
Continue reading The DPJ prepares for its first steps towards a new style of government
Apropos my comments on the probability of Fujii Hirohisa's being named finance minister in a Hatoyama government, Sankei has a long article speculating that to the three important posts of finance minister, foreign minister, and chief cabinet secretary, Hatoyama Yukio will appoint Fujii, Okada Katsuya, and Kan Naoto respectively. Okada, mentioned as a possible finance …
As the DPJ was finalizing its proportional representation lists for the 30 August general election, one name was inserted at the last moment onto the party list in the South Kanto block: seventy-seven-year-old Fujii Hirohisa. Fujii had previously announced his retirement after a long career that included service in the finance ministry that ended at …
Tobias S. Harris 