2014?
Would that be GMT (8:14 pm) ?-g-
Japan news
nytimes.com
Japan's New Cabinet Points to More Tough Reforms
By NORIMITSU ONISHI and KEN BELSON
OKYO, Sept. 22 — Bolstered by his overwhelming re-election as leader of Japan's governing party, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi put together a new cabinet today that strongly suggested he would press ahead with tough economic reforms in the world's second largest economy.
In an unexpected move, Mr. Koizumi reappointed Heizo Takenaka, 52, who has become the government's symbol of economic reform, to his two ministerial posts in economics and banking. It had been widely anticipated that Mr. Koizumi, who won the critical backing of party conservatives demanding Mr. Takenaka's departure, would strip the minister of at least one of his two posts as a concession.
"I support Takenaka's economic reforms," Mr. Koizumi said in a nationally televised news conference tonight. "The direction of his policies is correct. I intentionally didn't replace Minister Takenaka despite a chorus of cries for his removal."
He added: "I wanted to show the public there was absolutely no change in our reform program."
For the crucial position of finance minister, the prime minister appointed Sadakazu Tanigaki, a 58-year-old lawyer who is the head of a state-backed corporate rescue body, to replace Masajuro Shiokawa, 81, who is in poor health.
The cabinet shuffle, the second since Mr. Koizumi took power in April 2001, came two days after he was easily re-elected as the president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party. Many party members, while disagreeing with his policies, backed him as the most popular standard-bearer in approaching general elections, and Mr. Koizumi seemed to be taking full advantage of his personal stature today.
In today's cabinet appointments, Mr. Koizumi did not seem to give any concessions to party conservatives, hewing to his practice of not distributing ministerial appointments according to the Liberal Democratic Party's factional system.
"I plan to speed up reforms," Mr. Takenaka said at a news conference after his reappointment. "I think this shows the prime minister's strong expectations with regard to structural reforms."
Mr. Koizumi shuffled his cabinet with an eye toward two important events. President Bush is scheduled to visit Tokyo on Oct. 17 and is expected to press Tokyo to send troops to Iraq as soon as possible and to contribute financially to the country's reconstruction.
In November, Mr. Koizumi is likely to call a snap election in the lower house of Parliament.
He appeared to have made one key appointment with voters in mind by appointing Shinzo Abe the deputy chief cabinet secretary, as the Liberal Democratic Party's secretary general. Mr. Abe, 49, gained popularity because of his strong stance against North Korea over the issue of kidnapped Japanese. The appointment surprised experts. The post, usually reserved for a much more senior official, had been held by Taku Yamasaki, 66, regarded as a political liability after becoming involved in sex scandals.
But it was the reappointment of Mr. Takenaka, who has been a lightning rod for controversy since he became banking czar a year ago, which carried the greatest significance. With Mr. Koizumi's blessing, the former university professor forged an ambitious plan to force Japan's troubled lenders to write off their nonperforming loans and return to profitability by 2005.
The reforms included threats to foreclose on banks and companies that failed to meet strict deadlines. Many business leaders and most of the ruling party opposed the measures and have repeatedly called for Mr. Takenaka to water down the plan.
Mr. Takenaka softened his hard-line stance when he engineered a $17 billion bailout of Japan's fifth largest bank in May.
Despite his backtracking, Mr. Takenaka is still viewed by many as a progressive who pushes for change rather than clings to the status quo. In this way, he remains an asset to Mr. Koizumi and the ruling party.
"Koizumi wants to keep Takenaka until the financial system stabilization plan is completed," said Soichi Okuda, an economist in the financial markets division at Aozora Bank. "By pushing for Takenaka to be reappointed, Koizumi will show that he is committed to reform."
The appointment of Mr. Tanigaki as finance minister has other, more deep-seated implications. The government is struggling to contain the industrialized world's largest debt by cutting spending and raising taxes. It must also restructure the national pension system, which is running deeply in the red.
Mr. Koizumi's government, however, has had difficulty tackling these thorny issues for fear of alienating voters. To appease the electorate, the prime minister reiterated a promise tonight not to raise the national sales tax during his tenure.
By the standards of the Japanese political world, Mr. Tanigaki appears prepared to tackle these issues. He was deputy finance minister in the 1990's and later ran the Financial Reconstruction Commission. Most recently, he led the Industrial Revitalization Corporation, a government-sponsored halfway house for weak companies.
"We can't issue government bonds without limit," Mr. Tanigaki said. "We need discipline to control spending." |
