FOCUS: Hatoyama-Japan Post row puts Aso in quandary ahead of election

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TOKYO, June 5 Kyodo -
With a general election looming, one of Prime Minister Taro Aso's key Cabinet
members, Kunio Hatoyama, has put the premier in a predicament through his
intransigence over the appointment of Japan Post Holdings Co., a body formed as
a result of Japan's postal privatization reforms.
Hatoyama, internal affairs and communications minister, has been dead set
against Japan Post President Yoshifumi Nishikawa's staying in the top position
of the firm, wholly owned by the government, wanting Nishikawa to be held
responsible for the firm's recent dubious attempt to sell the Kampo-no-yado
nationwide resort inn network.
''Acting on my own belief, I will exercise my right and not authorize the
appointment,'' the minister told reporters Wednesday.
Hatoyama, who has ultimate authority in deciding who will be board members of
Japan Post, even made remarks that could be taken as indicating he will quit if
Nishikawa stays, but denied Friday that he had ever made such a suggestion.
One government source said that Aso ''will not be able to put an end to this
unless either (Hatoyama or Nishikawa) quits.''
Aso, who has already had a tumultuous time since taking office last September,
has only said he will leave the decision to Hatoyama and two other members of
his Cabinet -- Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura and Finance Minister
Kaoru Yosano.
The ministers, however, are apparently putting off dealing with the problem,
with Kawamura saying they need first to see how Japan Post has improved its
operations in line with Hatoyama's business improvement order issued after the
aborted Kampo inn deal and that coordination among the ministers will follow.
But further trouble within Aso's already beleaguered Cabinet could deal a
crippling blow to his Liberal Democratic Party just prior to the impeding
general election, which must be held by the fall, and cause further
confrontations between LDP members who support postal privatization reforms and
those who oppose them.
Former LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa told reporters Thursday,
''Politicians should not overturn (a decision by) Japan Post, which is a
private company.'' Nakagawa is close to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
who spearheaded postal privatization and other structural reforms in 2005.
Some LDP members are even more critical of Hatoyama. ''What he wants is just to
grab the limelight (ahead of the election),'' one party source said.
Yasuhiro Nakagawa, a House of Representatives member, said, ''If the government
replaces President Nishikawa, the Cabinet should dissolve the lower house.
Otherwise, Minister Hatoyama, who is making a fuss by himself, should step
down.'' He is one of the so-called ''Koizumi children'' who obtained their Diet
seats in the 2005 election under Koizumi.
On the postal reforms, Aso himself has been evasive. He said earlier this year
that he was not in favor of the reforms back in 2005, but later rephrased his
comments and said he eventually thought the reforms were necessary.
Such a flip-flop by Aso created some confusion in the LDP and triggered moves
among some lawmakers to remove him from the post of party president.
Hatoyama's resistance to the Japan Post appointment, however, has won the
understanding of opposition parties that are questioning the managerial
capabilities of Nishikawa, a former Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. president who
took up the current post in January 2006.
On Thursday, Social Democratic Party Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno told a
press conference that the party is seeking the cooperation of the main
opposition Democratic Party of Japan in jointly submitting to parliament a
censure motion against Aso if he gives the go-ahead for Nishikawa's
appointment.
Late last year, Japan Post decided to sell dozens of Kampo-no-yado inns and
nine housing facilities to leasing firm Orix for 10.9 billion yen as a result
of competitive bidding.
But Hatoyama voiced his opposition to the deal in January, calling it ''a race
whose result had already been decided'' as Orix Chairman Yoshihiko Miyauchi had
been involved in crafting the government's plan to privatize Japan's postal
services.
Japan Post and Orix subsequently gave up the contract.
In mid-May, the Japan Post board of directors agreed that Nishikawa would be
reappointed after his initial terms expire at the end of June, and Nishikawa is
eager to stay on, saying he wants to push ahead with reforms.
The appointment will likely be finalized at a shareholders' meeting slated for
June 29.
==Kyodo
2009-06-05 22:16:43