Japan LDP rivals cross swords, Prime Minister Mori in trouble

November 16, 2000
Web posted at: 6:09 PM HKT (1009 GMT)

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Rival camps in Japan's biggest ruling party hardened their stances on Thursday in a power struggle that looks increasingly likely to oust unpopular Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

Mori was dealt a fresh blow as a public opinion poll showed his popularity slipping further while his disapproval rating shot up to levels unseen in Japan in years.

But whether reformist Liberal Democratic Party challenger Koichi Kato would win his bid to be Japan's next premier remained unclear.

"At the moment, our swords are locked. The one that retreats will lose," said a key lawmaker in Kato's 45-member faction in the multi-group LDP.

The Harvard-educated Kato has vowed to take control and wean Japan from the massive pork-barrel spending that has left it with the biggest public debt among advanced nations. That means the outcome of the battle will have a direct impact on economic policies as Japan limps into recovery after a stagnant decade.

Drooping support

Political insiders said powerful LDP barons -- eager to stifle Kato's rebellion and prevent a no-confidence vote -- might press Mori to resign soon and call an early party poll to replace him as LDP president and hence prime minister.

But Kato, who sparked chaos last week by saying he might vote along with the opposition but who would likely lose an LDP leadership election, dismissed the idea as "meaningless."

LDP Secretary-General Hiromu Nonaka, a heavyweight in the LDP camp that has been backing Mori, was also reported to be opposed.

"It looks as though it's going down all the way to the no-confidence motion," Takenori Kanzaki, head of the New Komeito Party, an LDP partnerr in the ruling coalition, was quoted by Japanese media as saying.

Opposition parties said they could submit the motion any time after Mori returns from an Asia-Pacific leaders summit in Brunei on Friday afternoon.

The opposition lacks the numbers to pass the motion without the help of Kato and his supporters. If a no-confidence measure passes, the prime minister must resign or call a snap election.

A foursome of 'Ks'

Mori's popularity ratings slid below 20 percent after a series of gaffes and two cabinet ministers' resignations. A drop to that level has led past premiers to resign within months.

A Jiji news agency survey showed Mori's support had fallen to 18.0 percent, down 5.1 percentage points from its previous poll last month, while his disapproval rating had climbed 11.9 percentage points to 63.0 percent.

Jiji said the last time the disapproval figure went above 60 percent was seven years ago when then-prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa was ousted after a similar power struggle.

Party elders, who picked Mori last April after his predecessor suffered a fatal stroke, have begun pondering possible candidates to run in an early LDP poll.

Among the alternatives are veteran Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, former foreign minister Masahiko Komura, and Junichiro Koizumi, a quixotic politician who heads Mori's own faction but has been close to Kato and advocated such drastic economic reforms as the privatization of Japan's postal savings system.

Opposition love call

"As a compromise, the party executives may tell Mr Kato: 'All right, Mr. Mori will retire and we will have a presidential election in December or January'," a senior LDP member said.

"But I'm not sure Mr. Kato will accept such a compromise because he has a double purpose: One, to kill Mr. Mori and next, he wants to become the prime minister."

Kato's other option is to leave the LDP -- which dominates the ruling coalition -- and join hands with the opposition in a move similar to one that split the party seven years ago when it was briefly booted out of power.

His calls to abandon pork-barrel spending and slim down the role of government echo the stance of the biggest opposition group, the Democratic Party, some of whose members have said they would support Kato for prime minister if he abandoned the LDP.

Kato has insisted he won't quit the party.

Domestic media, however, zeroed in on a meeting among Kato, a close ally of his within the LDP and senior Democratic Party officials on Tuesday as a sign that an alliance might be afoot.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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