EDITORIAL: Abe should avoid fanning the winds of dissolution with his jokes

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent quip about “kaisan kaze” (dissolution winds) was an example of extremely thoughtless and unseemly remarks the nation’s leader should not make.

We cannot dismiss it as a mere light jest since he effectively mocked the political importance of the act of dissolving the Lower House for a snap election, which means sacking all the members of the chamber who are elected representatives of the people to seek a fresh public mandate to govern the nation.

With various rumors flying within political circles about the possibility that the prime minister might move to dissolve the Lower House for a general election synchronized with the scheduled summer Upper House election, Abe, speaking with business leaders, referred to the so-called kaisan kaze, or growing expectations among lawmakers of a snap poll.

In his address at the annual general assembly of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) on May 30, Abe talked about his golf outing with U.S. President Donald Trump in Chiba Prefecture during the U.S. leader’s recent visit to Japan.

When he visited the United States in April the wind was strong, but the wind was not blowing much in Chiba the other day, Abe said.

Then, changing the topic, he commented that Nagatacho, Japan’s political power center, is currently “very sensitive to the word ‘wind’” and said, “Winds are fickle and do not lend themselves to control by anyone.”

It is unusual for a prime minister to make remarks that appear to be aimed at fanning the political winds for the dissolution of the Lower House.

He was also utterly irresponsible in talking as if he had nothing to do with these “winds” by describing them as “fickle” and “uncontrollable” even though he is the only person who can decide to dissolve the Lower House.

Article 7 of the Constitution cites “Dissolution of the House of Representatives” as one of the “acts in matters of state” the emperor shall perform “with the advice and approval of the Cabinet.”

Many past prime ministers used this constitutional provision to dissolve the house for a snap election.

The democratic value of elections as a way to seek the voting public’s verdict on the government’s performance should not be taken lightly. But the members of the Lower House should remain committed to working to deliver on their campaign promises by serving out their four-year terms.

Britain, which, like Japan, has a parliamentary Cabinet system, enacted the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in 2011, which restricts the prime minister’s power to dissolve Parliament for an early election at will.

Since he came back to power at the end of 2012, Abe has dissolved the Lower House twice, in November 2014 and again in September 2017, in a political maneuver designed to knock the opposition parties off balance while they were unprepared for an election.

His gambits worked well, leading to a landslide victory for the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, Komeito, both times.

The current Lower House members still have more than two years until the end of their terms and there is a raft of important policy issues they need to tackle. Is Abe nonetheless laying the political groundwork for taking the step again as a tactic to serve the interests of the ruling alliance?

Senior administration and LDP officials have also made remarks signaling the ruling party’s growing appetite for an early election.

LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai recently said, “One day would be enough to create a rationale (for dissolving the Lower House).”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet submitted by opposition parties will “undoubtedly be” a rationale for the prime minister to take the step.

These remarks are probably designed to serve multiple purposes, including putting political pressure on opposition parties and enhancing Abe’s leadership base within the ruling camp.

Instead of playing with this “dissolution game,” the administration should focus on Diet deliberations and policy development.

Despite criticism of his “winds” quip, Abe joked about the same topic again at a May 31 meeting, saying, “I won’t talk about winds today,” which provoked laughter among the audience.

Such behavior by Abe probably is partly responsible for an endless stream of gaffes by LDP members.

A “manual to prevent gaffes” the LDP has distributed among its Diet members prior to the Upper House poll cautions against “casual talk that can have a comical effect.”

Abe should be the first to carefully read the document.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 1