Japan's Cabinet resigned en masse Friday as the prime minister reshuffles his lineup in a bid to revive the struggling economy and open up the country to stay globally competitive.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Thursday that the new Cabinet is aimed at pushing for reforms as Japan faces a string of daunting problems, including a rapidly aging population, growing national debt and an anemic economy - the world's third-largest.
The Cabinet that will be announced later Friday will be Kan's third since he took office in June. The one that just resigned was formed in September in an earlier reshuffle.
"I will have the most powerful Cabinet," Kan said Thursday at the annual convention of his ruling Democratic Party of Japan held in Chiba, near Tokyo. "The changes will reflect how best we can push for reforms for Japan and tackle the problems."
The reshuffle is largely seen as an attempt to increase chances of passing key legislation, including the 2011 budget. Distracted by personnel issues and a scandal involving a party veteran, Kan's government has been unable to make much progress in parliament.
Kan didn't specify what changes he will make, but media reports say he will replace Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, who has come under fire from opposition parties for controversial comments on diplomatic and defense issues.
The opposition bloc had threatened to boycott parliamentary sessions if Sengoku is not replaced.
Yukio Edano, the ruling party's acting secretary general and Sengoku's close ally, is among the top candidates for the job as the top government spokesman, according to Japanese media reports.
Kaoru Yosano, a 72-year-old veteran lawmaker known as a staunch advocate of fiscal reform and supporter of raising the sales tax to meet the country's climbing social security costs, is also expected to serve as minister of economic and fiscal policy, replacing Banri Kaieda.
Kaieda, an economist and supporter of free-trade zones, is reportedly shifting to economy and trade minister, reflecting the prime minister's push to achieve his goal of opening the country, one of his key reform agendas this year.
Yosano has held a number of senior government posts under the former Liberal Democratic government, and Kan's likely decision to tap him suggests that the prime minister is focused on fiscal reconstruction and wants someone who could foster consensus across party lines.
Other key Cabinet members, including Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, are likely to retain their posts, Kyodo News agency reported.
At Thursday's party meeting, Kan faced criticism from fellow party members that his administration was failing to tackle urgent problems confronting Japan.
Tokyo is considering whether to join a U.S.-backed free-trade zone called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which nine countries are negotiating. Business leaders say Japan must join the TPP or suffer a competitive disadvantage, but farmers are opposed because of worries that cheaper imports would ruin them.
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