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Former finance minister and deputy prime minister Naoto Kan was elected as Japan's new prime minister Friday following the majority of votes in elections held at the House of Representatives and more recently at the less powerful House of Councillors going his way in a leadership race that was largely uncontested.

Naoto Kan (R) gestures after he won the election to succeed the outgoing Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leader in Tokyo, capital of Japan, on June 4, 2010. [Xinhua]

Kan becomes Japan's 94th leader and the fifth prime minister since 2006.

Known as a grass-roots, straight talking politician, Kan, 63, takes over from Yukio Hatoyama who stepped down from the top spot Wednesday amid plunging support ratings over his inept leadership skills that finally led to the splitting of the ruling coalition.

Hatoyama's Cabinet also collectively resigned along with the outgoing prime minister on Wednesday.

Funding scandals and broken promises also plagued Hatoyama's eight month tenure.

The new prime minister has picked Yoshito Sengoku as Cabinet's chief secretary, a senior DPJ official said Friday.

Sengoku was previously state minister for national policy in Hatoyama's Cabinet.

Kan told his party Diet affairs chief Friday that he intends to form a new Cabinet on Tuesday rather than Friday as expected, according to a party official.

As well as ensuring his party's success in upper house elections scheduled in less than a month's time the new prime minister will turn his head to dealing with Japan's biggest public debt burden among industrialized countries -- expected to balloon to 115 percent of gross domestic product over the next several years, as well as revive a sluggish economy and address an aging, shrinking population.

"My task is to rebuild this nation," Kan said after he was chosen as ruling party chief.

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