Editorial
After reshuffle backfires, Aso should stop swaying and call election
Prime Minister Taro Aso's attempt to carry out a personnel reshuffle in a bid to revise his unpopular administration has proven counterproductive. It has caused his influence on his administration to decline even further.
Aso abandoned replacing ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda and other top party officials while appointing two Cabinet ministers on Wednesday to relieve ministers who hold multiple posts.
Depending on the outcome of Sunday's Shizuoka gubernatorial election and the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, it could become more difficult for Aso to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap general election. Aso is being made to pay for indefinitely putting off dissolving the chamber. Some younger LDP members are demanding that the LDP presidential election scheduled for September be brought forward in a bid to replace Aso as party leader before the general election. However, simply replacing the "face" of the LDP after only about one year in his post without calling a general election -- after the same situation occurred with former prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda -- is impermissible.
Aso and his aides intended to replace Hosoda and other top LDP officials, who are supposed to play a leading role in the party's policy debate with the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), with those who have a high level of ability to appeal to the public in a bid to win a series of elections, including the Lower House election.
In that process, LDP Election Strategy Council Chairman Makoto Koga asked popular comedian-turned Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru to run in the Lower House race on an LDP ticket, drawing public attention. The LDP also considered appointing Higashikokubaru to the Aso Cabinet. The move coincided with the activity of an alliance of governors and mayors led by Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto demanding the decentralization of power to local governments.
However, Aso only appointed two legislators to his Cabinet to relieve two ministers who hold multiple posts, a minor change compared to the great deal of fuss he made. The leaders of the largest intraparty faction of which Hosoda is a member and other groups did not approve a reshuffle of the party leadership, and those who are attempting to force Aso to step down for fear of competing in an election under the unpopular leader openly demanded that the prime minister voluntarily resign.
Aso's remarks on a personnel reshuffle lacked consistency. He once stated resolutely, "I'll decide on a personnel reshuffle at my own discretion," but he later said, "I don't think anybody has heard directly from me that I'm considering a reshuffle of the party leadership." It is obvious that the prime minister had been swaying.
A prime minister's principal mandate is authority over personnel reshuffles -- authority to appoint and dismiss Cabinet ministers and top officials of the party he heads in order to strengthen unity within the ruling party and authority to dissolve the Lower House for a snap general election in a bid to win support from the public.
His failure to exercise his authority over a reshuffle of party leadership will likely affect his right to dissolve the Lower House. In other words, he disgraced himself and thereby assisted the DPJ, which has been rocked by money scandals involving its current leaders and a predecessor.
Depending on the outcome of the two upcoming local elections, the campaign led by younger LDP legislators to force Aso to resign will gain momentum. If that happens, Prime Minister Aso should dissolve the Lower House for a general election instead of bringing forward the party leadership race. As Aso has said, the top of the national government should not be replaced depending on the results of local elections. The prime minister should tolerate what he called "livid solitude" and make up his mind to call a general election.
(Mainichi Japan) July 2, 2009