Japan, the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP, is threatened to be thrown into financial chaos as its political parties are fiercely arguing over the next boss of its central bank. The term of the current governor of the Bank of Japan expires on Wednesday and the proposed next chief Koji Tanami is not going to be approved by the Democratic Party of Japan.

The international "financial system is in global crisis because of the subprime problems, and the BOJ chief must be a person of ripe judgment and determination with global viewpoint," DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said in a statement. "We doubt (Tanami) can do a job as governor."

Koji Tanami is the Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The JBIC is a Japanese governmental financial aid institution whose goal is to promote economical cooperation between Japan and oversea countries. It was created in 1999.

Tanami was actually the second name proposed. The previous nominee, Toshiro Muto (one of the two current deputy governors), was also vetoed, which means that Wednesday when the current governor, Toshihiko Fukui, is due to retire, the Bank of Japan will be left without a governor.

This is the first time the central bank will be left without a boss since WWII. A temporary solution could either be the extension of Fukui's term or the appointment of a temporary governor, most probably the current deputy governor, Masaaki Shirakawa.

The Bank of Japan was established in 1882 with the primary purpose of giving it a monopoly on controlling the money supply.