Kan survives no confidence vote
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a no confidence motion Thursday after a surreal turn of events saw the Democratic Party of Japan turn the tables on the opposition Liberal Democratic Party.
The final result of the vote was 293 for versus 152 against.
Kan is now set to become the first prime minister to last more than a year since Junichiro Koizumi. He will pass one year in power on June 8.
The prime minister promised earlier in the day that he would step down once a full plan for reconstruction efforts was decided. He promised to pass on the reigns of power to the "younger generation."
With the cabinet full of senior, older lawmakers, which politicians Kan was speaking about passing power to is anybody's guess.
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama did nothing to convince voters he was no a flip-flopper, calling for party unity after days of criticizing Kan, while Ichiro Ozawa was not present for the vote.
So what happens now? Hopefully, politicians get down to the work of formulating a plan to get the north off its knees and the bickering stops for a while. That's what the people of the north want.
The confusion of the day was documented on Twitter.
Photo by ilya_ktsn
