Tokyo: Ruling party heavyweight Taro Aso won election as Japan's next prime minister in a vote in the lower house of parliament today, ensuring that the outspoken conservative would take power later in the day.

Aso, 68, was chosen as president of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party Monday, and already has begun piecing together a Cabinet expected to include a fellow outspoken hawk as finance chief.

The opposition-controlled upper house voted for Ichiro Ozawa, head of the Democratic Party of Japan, as prime minister but the more powerful lower chamber was expected to override that ballot within hours in favor of Aso.

The former foreign minister will confront a country wracked by political divisions and spiking concerns over the economy, which has stalled in recent months amid the ballooning financial crisis in the United States.

"If you look at the current period, it's not a stable one," he told reporters. "These are turbulent times with the financial situation and everything else."

The first task for Aso, who takes over from Yasuo Fukuda after a rocky one year in office, will be to put together a Cabinet capable enough to raise public support ahead of lower house elections that could come before the end of the year.

The first task for Aso, who takes over from Yasuo Fukuda after a rocky one year in office, will be to put together a Cabinet capable enough to raise public support ahead of lower house elections that could come before the end of the year.

Shoichi Nakagawa, a former economic minister considered to be in the right-wing of the LDP, was seen as the leading candidate to become the new minister of finance.
Source : PTI