Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's leadership and political resilience will be severely tested from this point as his administration deals not only with the upcoming regular Diet session but also with general government operations. The resignation of Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, for health reasons, just before the start of Diet discussions on the second fiscal 2009 supplementary budget and the fiscal 2010 budget, only makes Mr. Hatoyama's task more difficult.

Mr. Hatoyama will personally face an offensive from opposition forces over problems related to his political funds management, including how he used the ¥1.26 billion that he received from his mother since 2002.

Mr. Hatoyama has chosen Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan as the new finance minister. Administrative Reform Minister Yoshito Sengoku will double as national strategy minister, a post vacated by Mr. Kan. Mr. Hatoyama has also appointed Mr. Yukio Edano, who served as the leader of the budgetary requests scrutiny unit, as an aide to help Mr. Sengoku.