updated 10:30 p.m. ET June 3, 2010
TOKYO - Former Finance Minister Naoto Kan, an outspoken(直言、坦率的) politician with activist(活动家，积极分子) roots, appeared poised(准备行动的) to become Japan's next prime minister Friday as ruling party members met to pick a successor to the unpopular(不得人心的) Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned two days earlier.
Hatoyama's Cabinet resigned en masse(全体地) Friday morning, clearing the way for a party vote later in the day to select the Democratic Party of Japan's new chief, who will almost certainly become prime minister because the Democrats control the more powerful lower house of parliament(国会).
Kan, 63, faces a challenge from little-known Shinji Tarutoko, the 50-year-old chairman of the party's environmental committee, who has the backing(支持) of younger party members and a large faction(派系) led by the party's former No. 2, Ichiro Ozawa, who also stepped down(辞职) Wednesday.