Change of Guard in Japan: Naoto Kan Elected Prime Minister

Naoto Kan, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leader, was voted in as the country's new prime minister on 4 June, with his Cabinet to be launched early next week roughly one month out from an expected upper house election. Both upper and lower houses of parliament separately as elected Kan as the new premier in a majority vote, replacing Yukio Hatoyama, who abruptly announced his resignation on 2 June, only about eight months after sweeping to power.

Introduction to Kan
The 63-year-old Kan, who was deputy prime minister and finance minister in the Hatoyama Cabinet, became Japan's 94th leader, at a time when the country is struggling with a two-decade-old economic slump and filled with public mistrust in politics. Kan, the fifth prime minister since 2006, intends to launch a new Cabinet on 8 June.

According to a senior DPJ lawmaker, Kan is planning to name Yoshito Sengoku, who was state minister in charge of designing national strategy, as the government's top spokesman. Kan agreed with the DPJ's small coalition partner, the People's New Party, that the two will continue to form a government together.

Kan is Japan's first prime minister in 14 years who was not born into a long-established political family, unlike many of his immediate predecessors, including Hatoyama and Taro Aso, whose grandfathers were also prime ministers.

The fact that Kan is not a hereditary politician will likely help increase his party's popularity, as many voters are tired of seeing prime ministers who hail from elite families resigning one after another. But the leadership change is unlikely to lead to a major shift in Japan's economic and foreign policies.

Kan has said he will continue the unfinished work of Hatoyama, while doing his utmost to restore public confidence in the DPJ ahead of the House of Councillors election expected in July.
Kan said his first job as prime minister would be to ''rebuild the country,'' in a speech following his 291-to-129 victory in a DPJ presidential election earlier in the day over sole contender Shinji Tarutoko, a less well-known DPJ lower house member who called for ''a generational change'' in party leadership. He also called for unity within the ruling party in the run-up to the upper house election.

Previous Cabinet's Unpopularity
Attention is focused on to what extent Kan, an activist-turned politician, will be able to lessen the influence of Ichiro Ozawa, the outgoing DPJ secretary general, when he runs the government. One of the major reasons for the previous Cabinet's unpopularity was money scandals associated with Ozawa, regarded as the most powerful figure in the DPJ, who has decided to resign with Hatoyama.

Many of those who supported Tarutoko in the election are affiliated politically with Ozawa, who heads an interparty group of about 150 lawmakers, by far the biggest in the ruling party.
The decision to pick Sengoku, who is known to be critical of Ozawa, as chief Cabinet secretary suggests that Kan is trying to create an image that the new government is distancing itself from the kingmaker.

Hatoyama and his entire Cabinet stepped down together in the morning, ahead of the Diet's vote on the new leader in the afternoon, after floundering in public opinion polls, caused by his mishandling of where to relocate a key US military base in Okinawa Prefecture and money scandals.

The Hatoyama Cabinet was formed after the DPJ's landslide victory in last summer's House of Representatives election, which ended more than half a century of almost continuous rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

But Hatoyama decided to resign because of growing concerns about the potential loss of many DPJ seats in the forthcoming upper house election. If all goes smoothly, Kan will deliver his policy speech and take questions from ruling and opposition party representatives in the Diet soon.

Officially, Kan will assume the premiership upon an appointment ceremony at the Imperial Palace, and until then Hatoyama will continue serving as premier. The schedule for the ceremony has not been decided, yet.

Challenges Ahead
As the country's sixth prime minister since 2006, Kan has to ensure his party's success in upper house elections scheduled in mid-July so as to guarantee the smooth passage of bills. During Hatoyama's eight-month tenure, the DPJ had to woo a coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Japan New Party to assure a majority in the upper house. But the ruling coalition has fallen apart.

The SDP joined the opposition and the image of the DPJ became increasingly sullied in the minds of the people, following Hatoyama's backtracking on a campaign pledge to move an unpopular US marine base off the southern island of Okinawa.

In the coming election, it will be difficult for the DPJ to hold its 54 seats in the upper house. A 'twisted parliament' seen in the past when then the opposition Democrats and their allies won control of the upper house may return, allowing the opposition to delay bills and jam the government's policy plans.

Handling Japan-US Relations
Another challenge for the new prime minister is how to handle Japan-US relations. When the opposition, the DPJ repeatedly criticized the ruling LDP for blindly following the United States and called for a equal relation with the US. In fact, there are no differences in principle between the two parties in protecting and strengthening the Japan-US alliance.

The failure of the outgoing cabinet to relocate the U.S. air base to a coastal area within the Okinawa Prefecture suggests that politicians' promises could be dishonored and that the interests of the people on Okinawa could be ignored but the Japan-US alliance has to be protected. Kan also has to understand that for his junior cabinet to stay in office longer, he has to formulate effective economic policies so as to escort the infancy of Japan's economic recovery into real growth.

Japanese Elections Reduce Unipolar Order

Japan's opposition Democratic Party has been succeeded by winning a heavy majority in the recently held general elections. Ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)was facing strong criticism on account of global economic crisis and plummeting credibility of the Japanese economy. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that the causes of the failure of the LDP were, in fact, the faults cropping up in the economic conditions of Japan.

The present development has provided an opportunity to the opposition to come into power. This impression is globally widespread that being a head of the unipolar globalization, the United States is responsible for the recent global economic crisis. Therefore, it would also not be wrong to state that the decision made by the Japanese people through their votes in the elections was, in fact, an expression of opinion against the US policies and its unipolar world order.

Change in Foreign Policy
Reflecting the same thinking in his article published in daily The New York Times, Yokeo Hoto Maya, chief of the party winning majority in the elections, wrote that his country would bring change in the foreign policy that would be pro-Asia instead of pro-US. He strongly lashed out at the US-style capitalist economy and fundamental perceptions behind the global market and termed them alien with the modernism.

Although, this transformation in the thinking of the Japanese people and new ruling party seems to be a minor issue; however, if viewed in the wider and large perspective of globalization, it would seem a part of the anti-US thinking, which is a proof that the anti-US feelings on international level are intensifying. Perhaps that is why the chief of the winning Japanese party has expressed the likelihood of the era of the US leadership's globalization perception is quite near because of the failure of the US war in Iraq and global economic crisis, and added we are heading toward a multipolar era. He further said that the Asian nations should also set up a single currency system like in Europe viewing fast Chinese growth.

Emergence of Anti-US Bloc
An anti-US bloc has already emerged on the international scene comprising Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, China, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, Palestine and some other countries. Although, it is not expected from Japan that it would go to the limits of North Korea, Iran or Venezuela in opposing the United States; however, the changing direction of its foreign policy would affect the US-Japan relations in any way.

This fact needs no denial that the world has not witnessed anything during the unipolar globalization except devastation, destruction, and economic meltdown. Earlier the bipolar era was also the age of suffering and differences for the entire world. It would be known in the future as to what sort of multipolar world would be like and how law and order situation would be improved.

The situation, for the time being, is that the number of members of the anti-US bloc is on the increase, and it can be termed an important development toward the end of unipolar order in any way. The changing global affairs require that the South Asian countries should also bring appropriate changes in its foreign policy and take practical steps to suit it to the requirements of this modern era. We do not say that the South Asian countries should turn against the United States. However, it is necessary that we should not remain dependent on the United States; rather we should maintain our independence. The newly formed Japanese Government has talked about improving its relations with Asia by diverting its direction from the United States.

Lesson for South Asian Countries
It would, therefore, be appropriate for the South Asian countries to benefit from this situation and take measures to improve relations with Japan. This move will provide an opportunity to the South Asian countries to pull itself out of the US domination and establish bilateral relations with other countries on equal footing. This would also help us in tackling with the economic crisis and financial constraints.

It would be better for the United States to pay attention to maintain peace and justice instead of bullying and deceit, if it intends to maintain the honor that the United States achieved as being the only superpower of the world following the Soviet Union's disintegration in the last days of the previous century. This would materialize the years-long dreams of establishing peace on the earth for the rest of the international nations. It is also a decided fact that if the US leadership does not bring timely changes in this regard, none could be able to stop from proving true the prediction of the end of the unipolar order.