Janne Morén's recent post on institutional loyalty (thanks for the reminder, MTC) provides an excellent argument for why to anticipate a new political realignment in the near future.He writes:If we return to politics, the situation shares some similarities and there is a clear possibility of a similar dissolution of loyalty between lawmakers and their parties. …
Month: March 2008
Bank chaos
The fight between the LDP-Komeito governing coalition and the DPJ over the leadership of the Bank of Japan shows no sign of abating.On Wednesday, of course, the DPJ-led House of Councillors formally rejected the government's nomination of Muto Toshiro to be the new president of the BOJ. The government has resubmitted Mr. Muto's nomination in …
Watering down administrative reform
It appears that the administrative reform package desired by Watanabe Yoshimi, minister responsible for administrate reform, will be watered down as expected. Given the reception Mr. Watanabe's proposals received in the cabinet, I can't say that I'm surprised.According to Mainichi, the powers of the Cabinet Personnel Agency, the central feature of Mr. Watanabe's plan, will …
Irony watch
I couldn't resist linking to this item at Foreign Policy's Passport, which notes that Australia's navy is struggling for recruits.Why?It can't compete with Western Australian mining companies that are expanding operations to take advantage of growing Chinese demand (and accordingly, rising prices) for commodities.This may be the single best illustration of why the simplistic, "arc …
Ishiba remains the scourge of the bureaucrats
With the fight over the nomination of Muto Toshiro taking center stage, opposition calls for Defense Minister Ishiba Shigeru to resign due to the Atago incident appear to have receded, leaving Mr. Ishiba to proceed with his efforts to clean up the Defense Ministry.The latest piece of that effort is his project team to "promote …
Continue reading Ishiba remains the scourge of the bureaucrats
Radical decentralization
Aso Taro, looking hungrily to his next bid for the LDP presidency, has continued his campaign to remake his image with an article in Voice in which he discusses the need for a radical reorganization of how Japan is governed, including both a consolidation of prefectures into larger "states" and a transfer of authority, including …
My latest in FEER
Subscribers to the Far Eastern Economic Review can read my latest contribution — on the future of the LDP — here.
The pride of the conservatives
If Nakagawa Shoichi, leading conservative, has a virtue, it is his refreshing candor. Back when he was serving as head of the LDP's Policy Affairs Research Council under Mr. Abe, I suggested that Mr. Nakagawa was Mr. Abe's id, saying things that would be improper for the prime minister to say himself.Appearing on Fuji Television's …
The looming empty chair "crisis"
Following the government's formal nomination of Muto Toshiro for the post of BOJ president on Friday, the LDP launched a war of words over the weekend to paint the DPJ as irresponsible and pressure it to accept Mr. Muto to prevent a vacancy at the BOJ.On Saturday, Tanigaki Sadakazu, LDP policy chief and former finance …
Election soon?
The signs of change in the DPJ's thinking on the timing of the next general election discussed here is now a definite policy shift.As Mr. Ozawa told reporters in Kyoto Thursday, "We are struggling on the major premise of a dissolution this Diet session, although since the right to dissolve the Diet is held by …
Tobias S. Harris 