Govt reshuffle may not save Mori

TOKYO: With a month left before the reorganization of government ministries in January, the second administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, which will take charge of the ministerial reshuffle, has got under way.

The government characterizes the reorganization as historic because the extent of the overhaul is the largest since the Cabinet system was adopted in 1885. If so, the prime minister is required to demonstrate courage to break down compartmentalized public administration, and politics dominated by bureaucrats who have tended to hold fast to vested interests.

Did the prime minister succeed in choosing a Cabinet fit to face the start of the 21st century? Of the 17 Cabinet ministers, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and four others retained their jobs. As well, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was appointed minister in charge of administrative reform and Okinawa.

It is true that the new Cabinet comprises weightier members than before. But the crucial questions of what issues the prime minister will tackle, and how he intends to exercise his leadership, are not at all clear.

The prime minister cites the turnaround of the economy, the development of information technology (IT), reform of education and administrative reform as the four major areas to which he put priority in organizing the new Cabinet. But in the area of IT that Mori emphasizes most, Taichi Sakaiya, former director- general of the Economic Planning Agency, curtly declined the post of minister in charge of IT, although Mori pleaded: "You are the only person who can explain the importance of IT to the people in a way they can easily understand."

In the management of the economy and public finance, the prime minister has deferentially left everything to Miyazawa and Sakaiya. As for administrative reform, it will be a one-man show on the part of Hashimoto, who knows the minutes details of the subject. Seen in that light, it is hardly likely there will be many occasions when the prime minister will be able to exercise his leadership in a meaningful way. Indeed, his presence may be even weaker precisely because he appointed bigwigs to important offices.

Politics in which politicians rather than bureaucrats play a major part means, in the final analysis, leadership exercised by the prime minister. If the prime minister does not show the direction of the road ahead, and the strategy Japan ought to aim at, can we pin hope on a resuscitation of genuine politics?

Regardless of how colorful the guests might be, and how tactful supporting actors might be, the principal actor must be the star turn. If the major player is lackluster, the play is a flop.

The rebellion by Koichi Kato and his allies in the anti- mainstream of the Liberal Democratic Party was forcibly contained by former Secretary-General Hiromu Nonaka and other mainstream leaders. Subsequently, Nonaka stepped down from his position and an increasing number of members of the faction led by Hashimoto have shown signs of distancing themselves from the prime minister.

In the selection of Cabinet officers for the new administration, the jockeying for position among mainstream factions came to light as the faction jointly led by Takami Eto and Shizuka Kamei tried to increase its political clout by protecting the prime minister, while the Hashimoto faction appears not to have been hesitant to part company with him.

The approval rating of the government still hovers at a low level. No doubt, part of Mori's purpose in appointing Hashimoto, the leader of the Hashimoto faction, and former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, the head of the former Komoto faction, was to save his own skin by foiling attempts to kick him out of office.

However, there is no guarantee that the Cabinet reshuffle will be the key to turning around the fortunes of the Mori government. Younger members of the LDP say sotto voce that another slip of the tongue by Mori will deal a fatal blow to his government. Such a remark is representative of a chilly view within the party toward the prime minister.

Mori told the media he hopes the new Cabinet will be one of action in exercising its responsibility for the renewal of Japan. We should bear his remarks firmly in mind.

-- Asahi Shimbun