Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers on Monday chose Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda as the party's new chief. On Tuesday, the Diet elected him as Japan's new prime minister, succeeding Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
He leads the nation at a time when it is in the grip of helplessness because of the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, and economic difficulties due to deflation and the stronger yen.
Although the March 11 disasters and the nuclear fiasco have caused a national crisis, the Kan administration could not act quickly enough to support people who badly need help and to reconstruct the country. Mr. Kan's lack of leadership and of sound political judgment, combined with a divided Diet (opposition forces control the Upper House), deepened people's distrust of the DPJ government and government, per se.