LDP victor Koizumi should shun backroom deals
TOKYO: Junichiro Koizumi is president of the Liberal Democratic Party. With his landslide victory in the primary elections by local members of the party, he was practically assured of victory in the full election.
The picture of the election's four candidates engaged in energetic debate has struck the chord among the wide public. For many, the excitement in politics it generated is an experience they have not felt in years.
But LDP leaders have already begun the backroom bargaining on behalf of their factions for appointment to important party offices and key Cabinet posts even before the election in the name of party unity. Faction leaders seem to think that wheeling and dealing is a natural process before an election. What do they think the party presidential race is all about?
If Koizumi's administration results from horse-trading among factions, such a political process will not differ from the traditional LDP rule. And there would be no point in having primary elections to choose the new president of the party.
Throughout the election campaign, Koizumi's message to his constituents was in a class by itself. He constantly castigated the LDP's idiosyncratic factional focus and spoke of his devotion to structural reform of the economy by stepping away from the practice of political patronage. He left the faction of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to carry out his resolve.
Such an assertion was clearly extraordinary among the four presidential contenders. That could be the reason so many party members supported Koizumi. Now, he should be able to take full advantage of this politically strong position, which is firmly founded in the party's membership.
If he tries to maintain harmony among the party's major players through a balance of power, he will betray the trust of his grassroots supporters and will quickly lose their confidence.
Why, especially, would he seek cooperation from Shizuka Kamei? Weren't Kamei's positions the most widely removed from those of Koizumi in terms of structural reforms and party reforms?
Beyond that, Kamei did not draw many votes in the party primaries and did not have much support among party members. Could Koizumi choose Kamei to be secretary-general, the party's key post, disregarding the outcome of the primaries? If Koizumi should name Kamei secretary-general, both party members and the general public will surely have serious doubts about the sincerity of his campaign pledges.
Before appointing anyone, Koizumi needs to say clearly what standard he applies to selecting party members for key roles in the LDP and in government. He should, of course, reject seniority rule and balancing power among factions in making the appointments. Since he has said he would remove himself from rule by factions, he should not accept lists of people recommended for office from the factions. In naming members of his party to key offices, Koizumi needs to make sure his prospective choices agree with him on policy reform.
By mistaking the meaning of "initiative by politicians," the Mori administration relegated every important decision to the ruling parties. But politics dominated by the parties in power is likely to lead to the politics of patronage among those in league with certain special interests.
To prevent such harmful effects of party-dominated politics, Koizumi would be well-advised to have the three key party executives -- the secretary-general, chairman of the Policy Research Council and chairman of the General Council -- also be state ministers, thus achieving a solid unity of the administration and the ruling parties to establish a set of policy priorities at the prime minister's initiative.
The Cabinet is responsible for making decisions, and the essence of having politicians take the initiative is that politicians, not bureaucrats, would be responsible for the whole process from making policy decisions to implementing them.
We want to warn Koizumi that if reform is to succeed, the first step is the most important.
-- The Asahi Shimbun