Rookie ruling party needs to sharpen up fast

Teams of lawmakers and private-sector experts assigned to cut budget requests for fiscal 2010 began a review of the projects Wednesday. The process was open to the public in an apparent bid to show that the commitment by the Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's administration to "change" is no idle promise.

Reviewers and officials who were there to defend the projects argued their cases with conviction. The scene reminded me of a courtroom, where reviewers would deliver their "verdicts" on the spot. Many "cases" were thrown out on Day 1.

Some bureaucrats lamented that the whole process was like a "public execution," but the raw clash of wills was far more exciting to watch than any carefully scripted pseudo-dialogue.

I felt the same about recent Diet debates. The Cabinet members haven't depended on crib sheets when responding to questions. There have been no bureaucrats coming to their rescue. The verbal sparring between lawmakers has reminded me of a boxing match with no footwork.

Things got heated outside the ring, too. When Nobutaka Machimura, a former chief Cabinet secretary, tried to order rowdy rookie legislators of the Democratic Party of Japan out of the Diet committee room last week, financial services minister Shizuka Kamei lashed out, "What authority does that punk Machimura think he has?" Not to be outdone, Machimura shot back, "You're out, too, Kamei. Scat!" Incidentally, Kamei is eight years Machimura's senior, and both men are graduates of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Economics.

The DPJ has yet to get used to its status as the party in power. Welfare minister Akira Nagatsuma, who until summer was constantly badgering the government led by the Liberal Democratic Party, inadvertently addressed his LDP predecessor Yoichi Masuzoe as "Minister Masuzoe" when the latter took the floor for questioning. And Hatoyama did no better: He mistakenly called Nagatsuma a committee member.

Still new to power, the ruling DPJ is an inexpert defensive player. But the party has to fight on an array of potentially explosive issues, such as Okinawa, the budget, amakudari practices, political donations, Japan Airlines Corp., its coalition and DPJ Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa. Should the opposition LDP deftly push the button on any of these issues, the blast could do the DPJ a lot of damage. Public opinion is still favorable toward the Hatoyama administration, but how long that will last is anyone's guess.

Against this background, U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Tokyo on Friday. Obama, too, is faced with a slew of challenges, and his approval ratings are slipping. As China seems to be the main destination of his Asia trip, I'm not sure about the level of his interest in Japan at this point.

Still, both Obama and Hatoyama are obviously aware of the heaviness of their commitment to "change." I hope they will at least further their friendship as insurance for the future.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 13(IHT/Asahi: November 14,2009)