Japan?s Prime Minister-to-be Yasuo Fukuda (photo) selected his party lieutenants yesterday as he braced for a showdown with a combative opposition and calls for early elections after a disastrous year for the ruling coalition. The 71-year-old Fukuda, a moderate who favours warmer ties with Asia, was voted leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Sunday after the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, whose administration was crippled by scandals and gaffes. Fukuda will automatically become Prime Minister today, thanks to the LDP?s huge majority in parliament?s lower house. However, the opposition Democratic Party and its allies hold sway in the upper house, an unusual situation that is likely to beset Fukuda?s administration with policy struggles. The thorniest issue may be Japan?s naval support for US-led military operations in Afghanistan, which the LDP wants to continue beyond a November 1 mandate expiry in the face of opposition from the muscle-flexing Democratic Party.

Fukuda, who beat the hawkish Taro Aso to the top job, picked conservative former education minister Ibuki Bunmei, a faction leader and loyal ally in the leadership election, for the number two position in his party, replacing Aso.