Selected Columns
Hatoyama's resignation: Taking positives from the setback
A change of prime ministers has become an annual event in Japan. The past four years saw four prime ministers, each of whom is either the son or grandson of a former prime minister.
This has raised questions about whether a decline in the quality of prime ministers is attributable to an electoral system that allows nepotistic succession and problems involving political parties' ability to develop leaders, or to a decline in the ability of the nation as a whole.
Outgoing Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is the founder of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), and was burdened with the public's expectations for a historic transfer of power.
Nonetheless, Hatoyama caused confusion in his own administration over the issue of relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, and announced that he will step down saying, "My resignation will serve national interests."
No other prime minister has ever apologized to the public using self-denigrating words.
However, the important thing is to reconsider the significance of the transfer of power by scrutinizing the Hatoyama administration's merits and demerits, and to see some positives in Japan's politics.
The prime minister stood by his own guns when he strongly urged DPJ Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa to step down as well. A political funding scandal involving Ozawa's former secretaries is largely responsible for the sharp decline in the approval ratings for the Hatoyama Cabinet.
Ozawa's battle against prosecutors, which involved the DPJ, wasted much of the administration's energy. The scandal, along with a case in which Hatoyama's mother provided a large amount of funds to his political fund-raising organization, has caused the public's distrust in the administration.
Those involved were never summoned to the Diet for questioning. Such a thing never happened under the previous administration led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) when its members were involved in scandals.
The DPJ, which had gained public support through its cleanliness appeal, became so insensitive to the issue of politics and money because its members are afraid of the power of Ozawa.
Even though it is difficult, DPJ legislators should have firmer convictions and the belief that they can overwhelm Ozawa.
The Hatoyama administration's failure to utilize bureaucrats' expertise also caused its ability to govern to decline, contributing to its collapse.
In other words, the Hatoyama administration confused the problem of bureaucrats who land lucrative post-retirement jobs after receiving generous retirement allowances, and the utilization of bureaucrats' expertise in working out policies.
The administration failed to work out a national strategy for several key issues including security policy, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and rehabilitating the deficit-ridden state budget, which could call for a hike in the 5 percent consumption tax. The National Strategy Bureau, which the DPJ-led government planned to set up as the government headquarters for working out a national strategy, never functioned because no relevant legislation was enacted to give it legal grounds.
The Hatoyama administration began its work by criticizing the LDP-led government without making a clear definition of a transfer of power.
Unless the DPJ-led administration learns a lesson from its failure under a new leader without attributing the problem solely to Prime Minister Hatoyama's personal qualifications, the significance of the transfer of power following the DPJ's landslide victory in the 2009 general election would be brought to zero. (By Hiroto Kosuge, Political News Editor, Mainichi Shimbun)
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) June 3, 2010