Bring In The Heavyweights
Two former prime ministers and a handful of possible future prime ministers all got seats in a new Japanese cabinet unveiled on Tuesday in an effort to boost the incumbent Yoshiro Mori's flagging fortunes.
Hoping to repair his tattered image and his chances of prolonging his grip on power, Mori persuaded former prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to take a post in his new cabinet.
Hashimoto, 63, thus joined Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, 81, in the first Japanese cabinet to contain two former prime ministers.
"I was not able to find words to turn down the request," Hashimoto said after being named administrative reform minister.
Hashimoto stepped down as prime minister two years ago after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered a stunning defeat in an Upper House election.
Hashimoto, the leader of the largest faction within the LDP, will botgh oversee government reform and direct policy on Okinawa, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed.
The economy will likely remain the most important issue that the new Cabinet will face. Although statistics released this week showed Japan's economy is growing, its recovery from a decade-old downturn is still seen as shaky. Unemployment remains high, and consumer spending low.
Mori, whose own job security is in doubt given his low popularity ratings, also picked several ruling party politicians who have the potential to become prime minister.
One of those was Yohei Kono, 63, who stayed on as foreign minister. He has long been regarded as the front runner to replace Mori if he steps down abruptly.
Also in Mori's cabinet was former defense minister Fukushiro Nukaga, an up-and-coming lawmaker who won the post of Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister.
Some analysts also believe that former foreign minister Masahiko Komura, 58, who was named Justice Minister on Tuesday could be a dark-horse candidate to step into Mori's shoes.
"I will do my best not to let the cabinet's support rate slip, not to let the government be short-lived and not to let the government step into a quagmire," he told a news conference.
Further in the future, new Education Minister Nobutaka Machimura, at 56 the youngest of the 17 cabinet ministers whose average age is 63, may also have a shot at the top post.
But some with prime ministerial potential were conspicuous by their absence - reform-minded Junichiro Koizumi, the head of Mori's LDP faction, and Makiko Tanaka, the popular and outspoken daughter of late LDP kingmaker Kakuei Tanaka.
Tanaka told a television news program that her appointment had been quashed by the faction belonging to former prime minister Hashimoto.
Mori took over as prime minister last April, when Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke and died.
He has proven to be one of modern Japan's least popular leaders and narrowly survived a rebellion within his own party just two weeks ago.
Many analysts believe that unless Mori's support ratings impove, he could be ousted before the parliamentary elections that are expected to be held next summer.
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