Japan’s Fukuda Resigns

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda surprised his countrymen on Monday by resigning his office after holding it less than a year. He has proved rather unpopular, and he has been hamstrung to a degree because the opposition controls the upper house in the Diet. There will not be a general election, although the country must hold one by September 2009. Instead, the ruling party will select his successor in a couple of weeks.

When Mr. Fukuda’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, stepped down due to ill health, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (which is actually a conservative bunch) had just lost control of the upper house. The party apparatchiks turned to Mr. Fukuda because he had the reputation of being a fixer of sorts. However, the opposition Democratic Party saw no reason to cut deals given the electoral victory it had won by opposing the government’s policies.

So, Mr. Fukuda has stepped aside to allow the governing party to elect a new leader, who will by default become prime minister. With one year left before general elections have to be called, whoever the new leader is will have his work cut out for him. Reviving a party’s fortunes in a few months is always tricky, but since the LDP’s approval rating stands at about 30% in opinion polls, it likely cannot be done.

Tipped for the top slot is Taro Aso, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who has said he is ready to replace Mr. Fukuda. “I believe that I am qualified to take over Mr. Fukuda's agenda,” he told the press yesterday. As a rival of Mr. Fukuda’s, he did not participate in the government’s tribulations, and indeed, he was appointed to the job of secretary general as a desperate bid to boost Mr. Fukuda’s position.

If chosen, Mr. Aso will lead Japan to the right. For example, he’s a hardliner on North Korea, and he opposes changing the law to allow a female to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. He also is a rather interesting and even charismatic person by LDP standards, a political blue-blood who was an Olympic shooter and is a fan of manga comics. The party will makes its decision on September 20 or 22, but no one other than Mr. Aso seems to want the poisoned chalice known as the Prime Minister’s job.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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