POLITICS-JAPAN: Mori Resignation Expected as Economic Woes Rise

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Mar 9 2001 (IPS) - Talk is rife that Japan’s embattled Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is expected to resign anytime soon, amid rising worries by a disenchanted public and an economy whose finances are in a “catastrophic situation”, according to Tokyo’s own finance minister.

Local media has been focusing on the timing of Mori’s possible resignation — saying it also depends on whether a meeting with U.S. President George W Bush will push through later this month — but his exit from the premiership is widely expected.

Japan’s leading newspaper ‘Daily Yomiuri’ said Mori, who has been in office since April 2000, may be able to delay announcement of his resignation if Washington comes through with a meeting with Bush slated for Mar. 19.

This, the newspaper said Friday, is due to the fact that an announcement of his resignation before the summit could undermine Japan’s relationship with the United States.

Thus, Mori is likely to make a “suggestion” instead and indicate he would step down after returning from Washington and after the Japanese Parliament or Diet passes the 2001 budget at the end of March, the newspaper added. Kyodo news agency, however, says Mori may announce his resignation Saturday.

Mori’s expected resignation — which will mark the departure of Japan’s sixth prime minister during the last 10 years — illustrates the “crisis” gripping Japan today.

The political dissatisfaction with Mori, who has survived two no-confidence votes and said this week he would not quit, is adding to the uncertainty Japan finds itself amid signs of the further slowing down of an economy already in the doldrums in the last 10 years.

On Mar. 12, the government is due to announce Gross Domestic Product figures for October-December 2000, Economists say they expect a contraction for a second straight quarter, even as Tokyo prepares to unveil a new fiscal stimulus package.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa described the nation’s fiscal health as bordering on a “catastrophe”, a remark he quickly withdrew Friday after being strongly criticised by the opposition.

His remarks sent the yen falling on Thursday to 120 to a dollar, its lowest level in some 20 months, before it recovered to the 111 mark Friday.

“The country is desperately in want of leadership to steer it out of its long economic recession and accompanying social problems. Instead, we have leaders who are not trustworthy and colorless,” says professor Yasumori Somemiya, a well-known television commentator.

“Gloom is turning to despair,” he adds.

In the 11 months since Mori has been in office, the senior Liberal Democratic Party politician has become a symbol of incompetence and ridicule. His support ratings have dipped to a low of 8 percent, according to a February poll by the Yomuiri newspapers.

Mori’s gaffes have earned him bitter criticism. He created an uproar when in January, he called Japan “a divine nation with the emperor at the its core,” reviving the wartime ideology that led to Japan’s military aggression in Asia before its surrender ending World War II in 1945.

Last month, news reports that revealed Mori continued playing golf after being informed of the ramming by a U.S. submarine of a Japanese fishing boat off Hawaii led to a chorus of calls for his resignation.

“I am fed up with the political situation. Mori is just too much to bear,” says Osamu Ishiyama, a 51-year-old company employee.

Analysts predict a severe bout of political unrest following Mori’s departure from office.

Jun Io, who teaches political science at Seisaku University, says the current public unhappiness will lead to a hollowing out of seats of his LDP party in the coming Upper House elections set for July.

“The damage done by Mori is going to cost the LDP and the nation dearly. With no majority in the Upper House, the passage of new laws and policies will not be smooth. Not a desirable situation for Japan,” he explains.

Even among rural voters, the LDP’s traditional support base, there are signs of a change of heart.

“I have voted for the LDP because I believed those politicians are powerful and experienced. But after Mori, I don’t think like that any more,” says Junichi Hashimoto, who runs a local brewery in Akita, a rice-growing heartland in northern Japan.

Hashimoto says he wants the next leader to take clear steps to revive the economy, be sensitive to the concerns of ordinary people, and bring Japan international respect.

“A clear priority for the leader is to take over from the bureaucrats by changing traditional close ties. Can the LDP do that?” he asks.

The current problems for the LDP certainly means another long period of poltical chaos. Analyst Io forecasts the birth of a new party comprised of breakaway politicians from Japan’s the LDP, Japan’s largest political party which has ruled the country for most of the years after the Second World War.

“Younger politicians in the LDP are frustrated with the situation. There is the possibility of a split that could lead to a major change in the political scenario,” he says.

Analysts add that the current political crisis is all the more detrimental because it comes against a backdrop of unrest across the nation.

“The Japanese are themselves divided over how they should proceed in this age of rapid globalisation. Japan is tossed into two camps that pitches the older generation who are nostalgic for the traditional way of doing things, against young people who want to see drastic reform,” says Io.

So far, politicians have not been able find easy answers in the debate. Support ratings for prominent opposition leaders also remain weak among a skeptical public.

Their morale is incredibly low, say experts. The Japanese are worried and frightened about their future because they do not see the country as having capable politicians to take over over the reins of power.