Koizumi’s Political Woes

After his sweeping victory in Japan’s general election last year, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi looked unfettered. But now, the prime minister is plagued by a host of political woes, including U.S. beef import issues, the Livedoor Internet scandal, and a scandal involving fake earthquake-proof buildings.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the most likely candidate to replace Koizumi, has also been implicated in the fake earthquake-resistant design scandal.

U.S. Beef Imports–

On January 20, Prime Minister Koizumi delivered his annual policy speech to Parliament. In his speech, he stressed that the decision to lift a suspension on American beef imports was made after thorough scientific examinations. But it took just five hours before the prime minister withdrew his safety guarantee.

Japanese authorities discovered that a recent shipment of beef from the U.S. contained cattle parts (backbone) that pose a high risk for mad cow disease contamination, and the opposition party is saying that the Koizumi government ignored the will of the majority by lifting the ban on U.S. beef imports earlier than necessary to cater to the U.S. It also argues that the prime minister himself should be held accountable for the discovery.

After the potentially dangerous cattle parts were found, Koizumi took drastic measures, imposing a complete ban on all U.S. beef imports, instead of the partial ban recommended at the working level. With regard to the strong action, some observers suspect that the prime minister is trying to avoid being blamed for the discovery.

Livedoor Scandal–

Amid reports of suicides committed by those deeply involved in the scandal, and ongoing investigations by prosecutors, another series of reports point to Livedoor President Takafumi Horie himself as the one who ordered financial window dressing.

The news is a hard blow to Koizumi because the prime minister and President Horie joined forces during last year’s general election to defeat candidates who were opposed to Koizumi’s postal privatization plan. Though Koizumi denied his involvement in the scandal by saying, “My support during the general election and the scandal are two separate issues,” the opposition is poised to keep attacking the prime minister concerning the Livedoor scandal.

Still worse for the prime minister, Tsutomu Takebe, Koizumi’s close associate and secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), had a friendly meeting with Livedoor’s Horie. At the time, their conversation was published in a newsletter to Livedoor shareholders. Consequently, the LDP is being seen as a conspirator in inflating the stock price of the Internet company.

Building Industry Scandal–

For three months, Japan’s media has been awash with reports about Huser, a construction firm that built buildings certified as earthquake-resistant, but that in reality are vulnerable to quakes. All eyes are on whether Huser’s cozy relationship with the LDP played a role in the deception.

President Susumu Ojima’s parliamentary testimony on January 17 caused a stir. “I have met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe and sought his advice (on how to settle the problem),” said Ojima. While Abe denied the allegations, it was revealed that President Ojima had been an active sponsor of the biggest faction in the governing LDP headed by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. Because both Prime Minister Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe belong to the Mori faction, there is no sign that suspicions concerning this link will die down any time soon.

Moreover, it was found out that Kosuke Ito, the former National Land Agency chief and a member of the Mori faction, accompanied by President Ojima, met an official in the Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport at the beginning of the scandal.

Kwang-Am Cheon iam@donga.com