World

Maverick Takes Control In Japan

November 18, 2000 / 11:26 PM EST / AP

Populist maverick Junichiro Koizumi was elected prime minister on Thursday, storming to power on promises to reform the stumbling economy and overhaul Japan's hidebound ruling party.

The vote in Parliament's powerful lower house capped Koizumi's remarkable — and resounding — defeat of the conservative old-guard to win control of the Liberal Democratic Party. The upper house then confirmed his election in a largely ceremonial vote.

The Parliament vote came after his predecessor, Yoshiro Mori, and the Cabinet resigned en masse, bringing an end to a year-old scandal-riddled government widely blamed for failing to repair the troubled economy and driving the appeal of the ruling party to record lows.

Koizumi bolted up from his seat in triumph as his victory was announced, bowing his trademark shaggy, salt-and-pepper mane to his colleagues in thanks.

The new premier immediately made good on promises of a break-the-mold government, naming a record five women to the 17-member Cabinet, including the outspoken and popular Makiko Tanaka as foreign minister — the first woman to hold the post. Women also held portfolios for justice, education, land and transportation, and environment.

Tanaka, the daughter of a former premier, has been repeatedly singled out in polls as Japan's most popular politician. She has little top-level experience, having headed only the Science and Technology Agency. But her presence in the Cabinet was expected to enhance Koizumi's popularity.

"They will be a good team," said Keiko Hasegawa, a 53-year-old housewife. "I hope they can clean up the politics."

Other picks included fiscal conservative Masajuro Shiokawa, 79, to the important finance minister post, and Yasuo Fukuda, 64, as chief Cabinet secretary, the post he had under Mori. Nobuteru Ishihara, the son of Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, was named minister for administrative reform.

Koizumi, a former health minister, takes the helm of an economy trapped in an 11-year morass of high unemployment and feeble performance. The Bank of Japan announced on Thursday that growth this fiscal year would not reach 1 percent — lower than the government has forecast.

In an evening news conference, Shiokawa said restoring growth would be a top priority. "As soon as possible, we have to have an economic recovery," he said.

Koizumi's political challenges are also formidable. He has just a few months to bolster the ruling party's image before upper house elections in July. A poor LDP showing could undercut his support among the rank-and-file and lead to his ouster in LDP presidential elections in September.

Many Japanese were wondering on Thursday just how Koizumi's ideas would play out in practice.

"The Koizumi administration, to be inaugurated amid expectations for reform, has not yet unveiled a clear picture of the kind of government it will be," the national Yomiuri newspaper said in an editorial.

Though he is widely backed by voters, oizumi's anti-status quo rhetoric has annoyed some of the party's powerbrokers. He needs to mend those ties if he hopes to achieve the changes he has proposed, which include a plan to privatize Japan's huge postal savings system and other structural reforms.

Offering savings accounts to customers, Japan's post office in effect doubles as the world's largest bank. Koizumi has called the system inefficient, but it is a source of political support for the ruling party and few in the party leadership want it changed.

At the same time, too much compromise with the old guard could dampen his reformist image -- and sap his popularity. He won the LDP presidency on Tuesday after a landslide victory in party primaries where he capitalized on strong support among rank-and-file party members.

The new premier appeared to be facing some potential problems with the Liberal Democrats' two junior coalition partners, the Conservatives and the New Komei Party. Though he was expected to name coalition members to his Cabinet, leaders of both parties have expressed concerns over some of Koizumi's hawkish views.

Koizumi has advocated in general terms an expansion of the role of Japan's military, and said he supports official visits to a Shinto shrine where Japan's war dead -- including war criminals — are worshipped. That position could alienate the New Komei, which is backed by a powerful Buddhist sect and is sensitive to government links with other religions.