TOKYO: Japan’s new Prime Minister Naoto Kan, riding high on opinion poll ratings above 60 per cent, pledged a fresh start on Monday on the eve of the formal inauguration of his centre-left government. Kan — who was voted in by parliament on Friday and formally takes power Tuesday after his cabinet’s inauguration by Emperor Akihito — reshuffled the leadership of his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Monday.Former finance minister Kan sidelined a scandal-mired veteran party powerbroker dubbed the “Shadow Shogun” to signal a change from the outgoing leadership ahead of crucial upper house elections next month. DPJ lawmakers backed the departure of party secretary general Ichiro Ozawa, who reluctantly stood down last week along with premier Yukio Hatoyama as both men had been embroiled in damaging political funds scandals. “We are going to relaunch and continue prime minister Hatoyama’s vision,” Kan told lawmakers. “To create stable government, we must not lose the upper house election. I would like all party members to unite and achieve victory.” Party lawmakers rose and chanted: “We will fight! We will fight!” Kan — a one-time leftist activist who served as finance minister and deputy premier under Hatoyama — has enjoyed a honeymoon so far, with support ratings above 60 per cent compared to less than 20 per cent for his predecessor. Newspaper editorials have been upbeat about the “son of a salaryman” and contrasted his family roots with the privileged backgrounds of recent premiers such as Hatoyama, the millionaire grandson of a prime minister. When Kan names his cabinet line-up on Tuesday, many key cabinet members are expected to stay in their current posts, including Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and Transport Minister Seiji Maehara. Kan is expected to name his former deputy, 52-year-old fiscal hawk Yoshihiko Noda, to head the finance ministry as pressure mounts to revive the world’s number two economy and slash mounting public debt.