BY KOHKI WATANABE

On April 24th, Junitiro Koizumi, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP), was inaugurated as the 87th prime minister of Japan; on the 26th, he formed his Cabinet. Koizumi, the new prime minister, has continued to point out the gap that has grown between Nagatacho(the home of the Diet) and public opinion. Although Koizumi has been called "An Eccentric Man in Nagatacho" because he is not fettered by the political party and the factions, a lot of members of the LDP gave support to his challenging posture in the LDP's presidential race. In this race, Koizumi said "LDP is the most disliked political party in Japan. Let us change the LDP's old-fashioned management style." In addition, Koizumi included, the amongst his campaign proposals, reform of the structure of the national government, leaving no sector as a "sanctuary," a topic which has previously been taboo, while exhibiting his strong will to carry out reforms. As a result of this, Koizumi secured about 90 percent of the votes in the primary of LDP's presidential race and about 60 percent in the main race.

The former Mori Cabinet disillusioned the people with politics because "behind-the-scenes negotiations" were conducted by the factions of the LDP, and a 9 percent approval rating of the Mori Cabinet this February closely reflected the people's distrust of politics. Koizumi absolutely regretted the "Intent in Nagatacho" practice, including "behind-the-scenes politics." Koizumi's formation of his Cabinet is representative of his "Sloughing of the Factions."

Koizumi chose "political animals" and his helpers in the LDP's presidential race as his Cabinet members. Previously the prime ministers have not be able to chose their cabinet members according to their own wishes because the cabinet members were chosen from the testimonial lists of each faction depending on their size. But Koizumi formed his Cabinet without consulting the representative of each faction. As a result of this, five women and three members from the private sector joined the Koizumi Cabinet.

After his inauguration, Koizumi said in his first policy speech that he would carry out the declared policies, the nation's structural reforms, the public election of a prime minister, and a visit to the Yasukuni-Jinjyya and so on by members of his Cabinet.

Because of Koizumi's direct way of speaking and the ease with which people can understand his policy, the people have assessed the Koizumi Cabinet favorably. According to an Asahi Shimbun poll, the approval rating of the Koizumi Cabinet right after its inception was a record 78 percent. This overtook the74 percent which was recorded in 1993 for the Hosokawa Cabinet.

At the beginning of the Diet session, someone pointed out that although Koizumi may have the will to carry out the proposed reforms, he does not have any concrete plans. But now, the reforms are about to begin running. On June 20th, the basic policy of the nation's economic and fiscal reforms, including a plan for road funds, was agreed between the government and the ruling parties. In addition on the same day, in discussions with each of the party leaders, Hatoyama, the President of the Democratic Party of Japan, called for the regulating of the practice of appointing amakudari to government-affiliated corporations, and Koizumi agreed with him. Koizumi has also said that he will propose regulations for the privatization of the Posts and Telecommunication Authority, which is his pet project. Although the Health, Labor and Welfare Minister and Justice Minister insisted that he should support their stand, on May 23th, Koizumi nixed their appeal against compensation awarded to former leprosy patients. He broke down the wall of bureaucracy.

The people's awareness of politics has risen since the Koizumi Cabinet was formed. During a relay of Diet proceedings by NHK on May 7th, its audience rating was 6.4 percent, which overtook the conventional rating, 3 or 4 percent. The people are now beginning to have close interest in politics again. This is the condition that a democracy should be in. I expect much of Koizumi's ability not to lose sight of this public interest, and I would like the people to continue to care about in the politics, and make their voices heard.