LDP's Aso seen lining up Cabinet for next election

Japan's new leader, Taro Aso, may pick former trade minister Shoichi Nakagawa as finance minister, a newspaper reported yesterday, amid speculation of a November snap election.

Aso, an outspoken nationalist and advocate of tax cuts and spending to boost the economy, won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership vote by a landslide on Monday to take over from Yasuo Fukuda, who quit suddenly this month.

Aso, a former foreign minister, will wrestle with an economy skirting recession and facing fall-out from the US financial crisis after he is confirmed by parliament today as Japan's third prime minister in a year.