Japan Lower House Approves Mori as New PM

Japan Lower House Approves Mori as New PM

Japan's powerful Lower House elected Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) veteran Yoshiro Mori as prime minister on Wednesday, replacing the ailing Keizo Obuchi. Mori won 335 of the 488 votes cast.

Mori said earlier he would reappoint all ministers to their cabinet posts, apparently to avoid any destabilisation owing to the swift handover of power after Obuchi collapsed with a massive stroke on Sunday. Obuchi remained in a coma and on life support.

The burly new prime minister was expected to turn swiftly to a raft of issues from a rumbling volcano on the northern island of Hokkaido and a fragile economy to a meeting later this month with Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin.