Hatoyama firming up key cabinet posts

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Japan's soon-to-be prime minister is set to make a decision on who will fill key posts in his new Cabinet.

But Yukio Hatoyama said he will not formally announce his choices, until talks on a proposed coalition were completed. Li Qiong takes a closer look.

Key posts in the new Japanese Cabinet will be announced on September 15th.

Hatoyama has already appointed DPJ Secretary General, Katsuya Okada, as his foreign minister. Okada now faces a challenge managing ties with Washington as the incoming government wants a more equal relationship.

Naoto Kan, who is the party's acting president, is expected to head a new agency that will set government priorities and strategies. Kan would also hold the post of deputy prime minister.

Hirohisa Fujii, the DPJ's senior advisor could return as finance minister, a post he held briefly in the early 1990s. Analysts say if he does, bond market worries about more debt being issued could ease.

DJP executives also approved the appointment of former party leader, Ichiro Ozawa as DPJ secretary general.

Apart from the Cabinet lineup, Hatoyama is aiming to launch a coalition government with two smaller parties -- the People's New Party and the Social Democratic Party - to control the upper house.

Three-party talks on a coalition government will resume on Tuesday.

Hatoyama is set to be voted in as the next prime minister during a special four-day Diet session from September 16 to September 19.