BY KOHKI WATANABE

On November the 9th, 2000, the main opposition parties - which consist of the Democratic, Liberal, Communist and Social Democratic Parties - agreed to introduce a motion of no confidence in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mori. They did so because they believed that a succession of verbal gaffes by Prime Minister Mori were serious enough to call for his resignation. Tow days later, Mr. Koichi Kato, the former Secretary General of Mori's own Liberal Democratic Party(the LDP), agreed to support the motion: he said "This is the beginning of a wide-reaching drama that will involve the whole nation." Mr. Taku Yamasaki, a former chairman of the LDP Policy Council, followed suit. As a result of these decisions, the LDP split between two factions: one mainstream, the other anti-mainstream.

On November the 20th, the opposition parties formally brought the motion of no confidence before the House of Representatives, and at a plenary session that night a vote was taken. Yet, incredibly, at the very last moment Kato, Yamasaki and the members of anti-mainstream faction who had agreed to support the motion absented themselves from the session. As a result of their absence, the ruling party was able to reject the motion. The Kato rebellion fizzled out, and the "wide-reaching drama" turned into a mere "farce."

Kato later explained the reasons for his decision: "Since the prospects for reaching the required number of votes was extremely uncertain, it is doubtful if the motion would have been passed." The public, however, had learned that Hiromu Nonaka, the current Secretary General of the LDP, had said that those members of the LDP who voted for the motion would be expelled from the party as a punishment: Nonaka used the threat of banishment to persuade each of the rebels individually to change their minds. At the same time, during talks that he held right up to the eve of the plenary session with Kozato, a member of the Kato faction, Nonaka refused to reach any sort of compromise with the rebels. In addition, a split occurred in the Kato faction itself when senior members urged their fellow members to oppose the motion. Faced with this situation, Kato decided to abstain from the vote. We felt both disappointed and angry. In the end, loyalty to the LDP took precedence for Kato over other considerations. Kato argued that he had "retreated gracefully," but the nation construed his decision as the "worst possible defeat." Such a decision only fan the fires of the voters' disillusion with politics.

Although the no-confidence motion was defeated, Prime Minister Mori should think seriously about what the motion signified. After Kato's rebellion, Mori's disapproval rating rose from 56,4% to 70,5%. In addition, the mainstream factions of the LDP also began to demand Mori's resignation. They argued that "under Mori's leadership, the LDP will not be able to put up to a good fight in next year's House of Councillors election," "No one will suppose that the defeat of the motion demonstrates confidence in Mori's administration," and so on. Although it is true that the rebellion was initiated by Kato, Mori's actions caused it, and he should be made fully aware of his responsibility.

The decision to select Mori to lead the LDP was taken by only a small number of LDP executives, and ever since the Mori Cabinet took office its legitimacy has been questioned. This closed door method of electing a Prime Minister led to the selection of Yoshiro Mori, who, as a result of verbal gaffes such as his remarks about the "divine nation," revealed that he was not up to the job. Consequently, as a result of the Kato rebellion and his own doubts about the selection procedure, Nonaka resigned. Since he was one of the mainstays of the Mori's Cabinet, Nonaka's resignation will seriously weaken the government. Yet Nonaka's resignation, coming right on the heels of his success in surmounting the greatest crisis since the Mori's Cabinet's inauguration, seems irresponsible. Hereafter, the trend to think of the era "post Mori" will become more pronounced (and the arguments more heated), and the power struggles within the LDP will disenchant the nation.

The Japanese people hoped for big things from Kato's rebellion, since it seemed to them as if they were participating in political life and they actively discussed the rebellion among themselves. In spite of the people's disappointment, however, the negative feelings which Kato provoked by his "farce" must be transformed into the positive reaction of determining never to repeat such folly. We must educate and elect sensible and responsible politicians. For this reason, next year's election for the House of Councillors will be a notable one for me.