|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Fatal Political Bombshell? |
| [Commentary] PM Abe suffers yet another serious blow with the resignation of his defense chief |
|
Hisane Masaki (hmasaki)  |
 Email Article
 Print Article
|
|
|
|
Published 2007-07-07 09:56 (KST) |
|
|
|
Fumio Kyuma's resignation as defense minister on Tuesday came as yet another - and possibly fatal - political bombshell for embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ahead of the crucial election for the House of Councilors, the upper house of Japan’s parliament, on July 29.
Public support for the Abe cabinet remains stuck at abysmally low levels because of the government's pension records-keeping fiasco and a series of other political scandals, with some recent opinion polls showing it slipping below 30%, a figure widely considered to be a crisis level for any cabinet.
 |
TODAY'S TOP STORIES |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
FROM THE SECTION |
|
|
|
|
| Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-led coalition is facing an uphill battle to retain a majority in the upper house in the upcoming election. A loss of control of the chamber, even after wooing independent conservatives and possibly members of tiny conservative parties, would make the Abe government a lame duck at best. Chances of its being toppled immediately after the poll because of a landslide defeat are also growing.
"I regret that my comments have caused trouble. I am very sorry," Kyuma said after submitting his resignation to Abe. Kyuma, a 66-year-old veteran LDP lawmaker, caused an uproar and infuriated many, especially A-bomb survivors, when he said in a speech on June 30, ''I understand the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped.''
Japanese leaders rarely comment on the use of atomic bombs by the United States against Japan for fear of damaging ties with the US, its most important ally. Although Japan, as the only country that has suffered A-bomb attacks, has spearheaded international calls for an ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons around the globe for many years, it has been protected by the nuclear umbrella of the US.
Abe has been plagued by political scandals involving some of his own cabinet members. Last December, Genichiro Sata stepped down as administrative reform minister to take responsibility for the "inappropriate accounting" of his political funds and was replaced by Yoshimi Watanabe. In May, agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka committed suicide amid a scandal involving his own political funds and was replaced by Norihiko Akagi.
The prime minister himself has faced a barrage of criticism from the public as well as opposition parties for failing to handle those scandals properly and exert strong leadership. In the eyes of critics, Abe seemed to be out of touch with public feelings, taking the scandals less than seriously and intent on just shielding his political allies in the dire straits.
Abe initially tried to take Kyuma's remarks in stride. On July 1, gaffe-prone Kyuma apologized for and retracted them. On July 2, Abe rebuked Kyuma and warned him to be more careful with his words, but rejected opposition calls to sack him.
Abe apparently miscalculated public opinion and responses from his own coalition. Even after Kyuma's apology and public dressing-down by Abe, calls for the defense minister's resignation continued to mount, not only from opposition parties but also from some members of the LDP and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito.
Opposition lawmakers criticized Abe's appointment of Yuriko Koike, his national security advisor, as Kyuma’s successor, with the Japan Communist Party's Tadayoshi Ichida saying she had once responded to a newspaper questionnaire that she thought it was acceptable for Japan to consider going nuclear depending on the international situation.
A graduate of Cairo University, Koike is fluent in Arabic as well as English. She is said to share common views with Abe on basic security and foreign-policy issues. Like Abe, Koike is known as a staunch anti-North Korea hardliner.
Koike, a telegenic former news anchor, is among those who played prominent roles in the LDP's landslide victory in the last election for the House of Representatives, held in September 2005. After the election, Koike was retained by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as environment chief.
As Koizumi's environment minister, Koike introduced, in 2005, the "Cool Biz" campaign of encouraging office workers to dress lightly without a tie or jacket during their work hours in summer. The campaign is part of Japan's efforts to reach its greenhouse-gas reduction goal under the Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming. Abe appointed Koike as new defense chief, apparently hoping that it will help turn around the chilly prospects of his cabinet and LDP in the upcoming House of Councilors election.
But her appointment will do nothing to cool down raging public furor over the pension fiasco and other scandals. It would be safer to bet on a harsh voters' verdict for Abe and his coalition on July 29.
|
|
 |
|
Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based journalist, commentator and scholar on international politics and economy. This is part of an article that originally appeared on Asia Times.
|
|
|
©2007 OhmyNews
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Comments Note: Kindly refrain from personal attacks and profanity. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
How worried are you about the H1N1 influenza virus? |
|
 |
| * Vote to see the result. |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RSS
Del.icio.us
Digg 
reddit
Y! MyWeb
.jpg)
