TOKYO - Japan's new prime minister ordered his Cabinet on Friday to freeze parts of a US$154 billion stimulus package that his government believes are wasteful.
Polls showed strong public support for the new, largely untested Cabinet installed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has promised to reinvigorate Japan's anemic economy and put families, not big business, at the centre of his policies.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Hatoyama told ministers to "thoroughly review and evaluate all projects in the extra budgets to decide whether they should be executed or not" by Oct. 2.
Hatoyama's Democratic party, which overthrew the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in historic elections late last month, has criticized some of the projects in the 14 trillion yen ($154 billion) stimulus package passed by the LDP as wasteful spending, including an animation museum.
A survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed a public approval rating of 77 per cent for Hatoyama's Cabinet, the second-highest level after former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's public support of 85 per cent when he came to power in April 2001. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said they have high expectations for the 62-year-old Hatoyama, who took office on Wednesday.
Hatoyama's party swept to power on promises to expand the social safety net and provide cash handouts to families and aid to farmers -- moves that critics say will only further expand Japan's massive national debt.
The Democrats say they can pay for the programs by cutting wasteful spending in the budget.
Most of the ministers in Hatoyama's Cabinet have little experience. But many Japanese were heartened that the finance minister post went to veteran lawmaker Hirohisa Fujii, who held that job in the early 1990s under a coalition government that briefly ousted the LDP.
Polls by the Yomiuri newspaper and the business newspaper The Nikkei found public support for the Hatoyama Cabinet was 75 per cent.
Hatoyama makes his diplomatic debut next week with a visit to the United Nations and the Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. He is to meet with President Barack Obama on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said.
The new prime minister has said he wants Japan to forge a more independent relationship with the United States and review the U.S. military presence in Japan, where 50,000 American troops are stationed.
But both Hatoyama's government and Washington have been eager to dispel worries that major changes in the alliance are afoot.
New Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada reassured the U.S. diplomat in charge of the Asia-Pacific region during a meeting Friday, saying Tokyo wants to deepen bilateral relations despite potential areas of disagreement.
"We have issues that still need to be addressed, but I'm committed to deepening the Japan-U.S. alliance to make it sustainable for 30 years, 50 years or even longer," Okada told U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
Campbell said Washington is looking forward to having a wide range of talks with the Japanese government.
The Mainichi newspaper conducted its poll in telephone calls Wednesday and Thursday to 1,650 randomly selected eligible voters. It said 1,014 responded. It did not provide a margin of error, but a poll of that size would normally have a margin of about 5 per centage points.
The Yomiuri also conducted a telephone poll of 1,820 eligible voters during the same period and received 1,807 responses. A poll that size would normally have a margin of error of about 3 per centage points.
The Nikkei called 1,397 eligible voters and received 857 responses. A poll that size would normally have a margin of error of 5 per centage points.
