Can Japanese PM Koizumi's honeymoon last?

TOKYO: In the month that has passed since the inauguration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration, the new leader's apparent zeal to carry out reforms has kindled a sense of expectation among the public.

His much touted reforms, which initially were nothing more a general outline, have started to take shape with specific ideas such as reviews of tax revenue for road-related projects, of budget allocations for public works projects and of the central government's tax revenue grants to local entities.

That the new administration is taking on long-taboo issues -- ones that are closely linked with vested interests -- is a major step forward.

The review of tax revenue channeled to road-related projects, in particular, will be a litmus test for the Koizumi administration, which came to power with promises to tear down the edifice of conventional "Liberal Democratic Party-style politics" along with the sanctuaries of vested interests.

Tax revenue for road-related projects has long been considered a sacred cow for LDP legislators representing road-related sectors. These legislators safeguard the interests of construction and other businesses through the allocation of public work spending to road construction and maintenance in their constituencies.

Koizumi has instructed LDP executives that the review of tax revenue for road-related projects should be a plank in the party's campaign platform in the upcoming House of Councillors election.

The party's General Council, however, has decided that the campaign pledge should not mention the review of specific revenue sources due to the strong opposition by members of the faction headed by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, the LDP's largest bloc.

Thus an intensifying resistance to Koizumi's proposal, both from within and without the LDP, reared its head.

The review is deemed unavoidable in that the practice of earmarking tax revenue for road projects kills the flexibility of being able to make budget allocations in line with policy priorities.

If the LDP is unable offer a review of the road project spending, even as a campaign pledge, Koizumi's reforms will be a mere pie in the sky no matter how much he blows his horn.

As Koizumi famously has said, "There is no economic recovery without structural reforms," economic recovery is indeed a matter of great urgency.

His administration needs to draw up concrete measures for pending issues, including ways for banks to remove bad loans from their balance sheets, and to implement these measures as quickly as possible.

Koizumi also decided Wednesday not to appeal a Kumamoto District Court ruling ordering the state to pay former leprosy patients compensation for having forced them into isolation.

To some extent, the decision seemed designed to bolster his popularity. Nevertheless, it should be taken as a sign of the resurrection of political leadership -- a quality that is supposed to be an attribute of a prime minister.

Meanwhile, Koizumi enjoys unprecedented public popularity. Most opinion polls, including one conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun, have reported approval rates for Koizumi exceeding 80 percent.

Members of the opposition parties face a flood of critical e- mail, faxes and telephone calls from the public immediately after they pose questions unfavorable to Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, one of the Koizumi Cabinet's stars. The opposition is complaining that it cannot criticize or question the government.

Intolerance of criticism is a dangerous sign in a healthy democracy. The public should not be ruled by mere emotion or mood. They should mull political realities calmly.

Public popularity is the prime minister's most powerful weapon for blowing away foes of his reform efforts. There is, however, an undeniable danger of a degradation into cheap populism.

To overcome dependence on his personal popularity and cement its political foundations, the Koizumi administration has no choice but to keep making progress on reforms.

-- The Yomiuri Shimbun