Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)–The first de facto replacement of a cabinet minister since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office a year ago has exposed the weaknesses of her grip on power. Information crucial to Takaichi’s decision on whether to replace embattled former agriculture minister Kazuo Yana did not reach her. This included an allegation that Yana’s camp provided free shuttle bus transportation to supporters during the campaign for the February House of Representatives election, potentially violating the public offices election law. Takaichi was also unaware that a censure motion against Yana could be passed by the Senate, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament. Yana resigned as agriculture minister Wednesday. Given the prime minister’s tendency to handle important matters on her own, this lack of crisis management skills is likely to cast a shadow over the administration’s future. “Power is concentrated in the prime minister’s hands, and those around her cannot speak up,” a senior official of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party said, describing the current state of the administration. During question sessions by party representatives in the Diet from Oct. 7 to 9, the prime minister said that she had instructed him to remain in office and urged him to “work hard and make up for it through his work.” However, when the free bus transportation allegation became the focus of the Lower House’s Budget Committee on Tuesday, she made a complete about-face. “The bus issue came up today,” she said, adding, “If it’s illegal, I won’t hesitate to decide on his future.” Yana’s remark that road budgets had been reduced for municipalities whose mayors did not support him in the February general election came to light in magazine reports in late September. The free bus transportation allegation was reported on Oct. 7. After the Lower House Budget Committee meeting, a senior government official said, “I hear the prime minister doesn’t read weekly magazines.” The official revealed that “I had read the reports” but did not inform the prime minister, explaining, “If I were to report every single thing, there would be no end to it.” Takaichi had thus decided to retain Yana as agriculture minister without knowing about the possibility of a violation of the public offices election law. Furthermore, an LDP official said, “We failed to fully grasp that a censure motion, if submitted, was likely to be passed.” As the ruling bloc does not hold a majority in the Senate, a censure motion could be passed if opposition parties unite. Many observers believe that Junichi Ishii, an LDP heavyweight with close ties to opposition parties, was removed from his post as the LDP’s secretary-general for the Senate in the recent reshuffle of the party’s leadership at Takaichi’s behest. The administration’s crisis management could determine her fate. Under the administration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga had primarily been in charge of crisis management. Together with then Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda and Takaya Imai, then adviser to the prime minster, Suga is said to have kept a close watch on developments within the government and among the ruling and opposition parties, relaying sensitive information to Abe. There was even an instance in which Abe dismissed a cabinet minister who had made a gaffe within a few hours. Although Takaichi relies heavily on Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, their ties are not as close as those between Abe and Suga. Within the LDP, many members believe that Yana’s replacement as agriculture minister “will not immediately undermine the prime minister’s power base within the party,” an LDP source said. However, a former cabinet minister said that the administration, which had been running smoothly, may have begun to go into reverse, adding, “What will happen to the LDP presidential election next fall if this situation continues?” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
