EDITORIAL: Challenges for Cabinet

The new Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan vows to dispel "the sense of stagnation that has dogged the nation for 20 years."

The economy has languished, life has become harder and community ties have become frayed. Popular anxiety is growing over the uncertain future of the nation's pension and health-care systems and other safety nets. Obviously, everyone wants to be freed from their sense of helplessness.

The nation's birthrate continued to decline while the population grayed and economic globalization progressed. And then came deflation. Politicians failed, or proved too slow, to deal with these drastic changes in the environment surrounding Japan. Without a doubt, the people's feeling of hopelessness deepened because of the poor stewardship of their elected representatives.

The historic regime change last year provided an opportunity for the nation to switch to new politics from the old model that was incapable of coping with the changing times. But the Yukio Hatoyama administration collapsed before it could "sort" the old from the new.

We truly hope the Kan administration will succeed in this endeavor. If not, the value of last year's historic change of government will plummet, causing irreparable damage to Japan's democracy.

Kan is calling for "strong economy, strong finance and strong social security." His first task must be to whip the political community back into shape and give the nation "strong politics."

Either-or era

"Politics of distribution" was what old-style politics amounted to. During the years of sustained economic growth, the Liberal Democratic Party liberally distributed the fruits of progress all over the nation in exchange for votes, which enabled the party to monopolize government for decades. The LDP's pork-barrel politics were a far cry from any transparent and fair "redistribution" of wealth.

Nearly 20 years have passed since the asset-inflated economic bubble burst. It has been a while since the role of politics switched from the distribution of the fruits of economic growth to the distribution of "painful burdens." For better or for worse, the Junichiro Koizumi administration attempted so-called Koizumi reforms that promised pain.

But old politics die hard, with vestiges amply visible in the campaign manifesto prepared by the Democratic Party of Japan for the Lower House election last year. And under the virtual leadership of then Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ fell into the trap of populism and shameless vote-canvassing at election times.

But the politics of our new era must be "politics of choice and persuasion."

Shrinking fiscal resources force the nation to choose either A or B--not both A and B--and invest selectively in what really matters.

When there is insufficient funding, the people must be asked to share the burden to cover the deficit, and it is the responsibility of their elected representatives to explain the reasons and make every effort to be understood.

This does not apply only to economic, fiscal and social security issues. The relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, made messy by the absence of any clear answer on whether to move it outside Japan, outside Okinawa Prefecture or within the prefecture, is precisely the sort of tough issue that cannot be resolved unless the prime minister makes a firm choice and uses his power of persuasion in negotiations with Washington and the domestic parties concerned.

Review manifesto with humility

In his resignation speech, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama voiced his doubts about "continuing to rely on the United States for national security" and argued the necessity of "Japanese peace created by the Japanese people themselves."

Hatoyama was obviously stating his opinion, which was fine in itself. But sadly, there existed too huge a gap between his grand vision and his ability to form and execute his own policy.

It is difficult and painful for any politician to make a choice and persuade the people to accept that choice. It is so much easier just to try to be liked. But the current times no longer permit the easy option.

In appointing his Cabinet ministers and key party personnel, Prime Minister Kan had to ensure the lineup would be able to withstand today's severe political challenges.

For the key posts of chief Cabinet secretary, party secretary-general and chairman of the Policy Research Council, Kan chose people who are not only ready and willing to review the party manifesto, but are also noted for their straight talk. Whether these individuals are really as competent as they are believed to be awaits to be seen.

The test for the new administration is whether it will be able to keep intraparty dissent in check and break with old politics.

Reviewing its manifesto is of critical importance to the DPJ. In the almost nine months since the DPJ became the ruling party, it has become clear that budget cuts alone are insufficient to fund the programs listed on the manifesto.

The party must review programs that overburden the budget and straighten out its priorities, apologize humbly to the people for reneging on its promises, explain what will follow, and await voters' judgment in the Upper House election. If the party survives the election, it will become vastly easier to implement its policies.

Regarding the child allowance, the DPJ should spell out in the manifesto that the initially proposed amount will not be paid in full for the time being.

Trying to pay the full amount despite the absence of sufficient funding would defeat the entire purpose of supporting families with children. Paying the full allowance could result in delays for much-needed initiatives, such as increasing the availability of day-care facilities.

The consumption tax is an issue of extreme importance. The opposition LDP intends to spell out an initial hike to 10 percent in its campaign manifesto. If the DPJ is serious about this issue, it cannot keep sitting on the fence. Voters will definitely pay attention to the wording of the DPJ manifesto.

On policies that will require voters to share the fiscal burden, we encourage the DPJ and the LDP to discuss them together and explore common ground. Now that the LDP has made a move toward raising the consumption tax rate, a perfect opportunity for such collaboration has presented itself.

New protocol for dialogue

For "politics of choice and persuasion" to take root, it is vital that a new method of decision-making in the Diet be developed, and that the ruling and opposition parties alike become thoroughly familiar with it.

Under the so-called 1955 political system that rendered regime changes unrealistic, the ruling and opposition parties maintained confrontational relations on the surface, but compromises were struck underneath.

When the DPJ emerged stronger from political reforms, the ruling-opposition rivalry for power intensified. But any confrontation for confrontation's sake is futile and meaningless.

What needs to be done is to differentiate issues on which there can be no compromise from issues on which dialogue is possible.

With the latter, the ruling and opposition parties should debate in public, not behind closed doors, and work toward a compromise. This is not just a fanciful dream. In fact, signs of such a development were seen in suprapartisan negotiations on the National Referendum Law for constitutional amendment.

"Politics of choice and persuasion" in this context should help ease the sort of rigidity that goes with having to choose between coalition and confrontation. And it will most likely reduce cases in which a major political party is bossed around by a small party and policy decisions are adversely affected.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 9