Shift in Japan’s politics

Press, 30 December 1976, Page 10

Shift in Japan’s politics

The replacement of Mr Takeo Miki as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan by Mr Takeo Fukuda is the result of an internal party struggle. But it is also a reflection of the style of government. Mr Miki was leading Japan more openly; Mr Fukuda is firmly entrenched in the tradition of close links between big business and party politics.

Mr Miki was the more vulnerable because the Liberal Democrats lost their over-all majority in the Lower House of Parliament in an election this month. They won 249 seats in the 511seat Diet and they must govern with the help of others—a condition that they have not had to meet in the 21 years the partv has led the country. The Liberal Democrats have been losing their popularity a long time, but their recent loss was greater because several

prominent party members, including Mi Kakuei Tanaka, a former Prime Minister, are suspected of taking bribes from the Lockheed Corporation

The loss of voters’ support for the Liberal Democrats means that the electors are questioning some basicassumptions about Japanese politics and government. The parties of the far Left lost support, and the figures suggest that Japan was regrouping at the centre. On the Right, big business failed to support the Liberal Democrats as it has supported them in the past. The party has responded by removing Mr Miki and promoting Mr Fukuda. But whether the party’s move will meet the wishes of the electorate remains to be seen. Although he is untouched by the Lockheed scandal. Mr Fukuda represents much in Japanese politics that the voters may’ have been rejecting.