Japan's most powerful business lobbying group Sunday called on incoming prime minister Yasuo Fukuda to pursue free-market reforms, which have been increasingly controversial.
Fukuda, who has pledged to ease the pain of rural areas that feel left out of the economic recovery in the world's second largest economy, on Sunday won a party vote to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who resigned.
The Japan Business Federation, which supported Abe and his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi, said it will continue to back the Liberal Democratic Party-led government under Fukuda despite a divided parliament.
"The Japan Business Federation will offer utmost support to the new leader to get over this impasse," said the group's chairman, Fujio Mitarai, who is also president of high-tech giant Canon Inc, as quoted by Jiji Press. "We want the government and ruling parties to be united and promote reform steadily by winning the understanding of the opposition parties," he said, according to Kyodo News.
In July elections, the opposition ousted the Liberal Democratic Party from control of the upper house for the first time since its creation in 1955, partly by appealing to farmers angered over structural reforms. Fukuda has pledged to continue economic reform while also paying more attention to rural areas, which were long a political stronghold for the ruling party.
Comments
Comments are closed.