Time to tackle the basic goal

構造改革とテロ対策

Economic structural reform is the chief goal of the Koizumi administration. Since his debut in April, the prime minister has repeatedly emphasized, in the Diet and elsewhere, that he will leave no "sacred cows" intact. He outlined his more specific goals, including public-sector reform, in a Diet policy speech last month, saying that the future of Japanese society depended largely on how his reform campaign would develop.

In June, his administration laid out policy guidelines for economic and fiscal management and, in September, worked out an action plan setting a range of priority targets. Reform efforts in these selected areas will reach a critical stage during the final phase of drawing up the fiscal 2002 government budget later this year.

Koizumi's reform plans call for drastic changes that would shake up some of the nation's post-World War II systems. Carrying them out requires, as he has said time and again, extraordinary courage and determination on the part of the government and the ruling parties. But the initial enthusiasm for reform appears to be rapidly losing steam. The immediate reason is the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, which have affected, if temporarily, the order of national priorities.

Now members of the ruling coalition seem to be trying to put off reform under the pretext of counterterrorism. For example, Mr. Koizumi's pet project to restructure Japan Public Highway Corp. and other road-related entities is all but stalled. He said earlier, in the Diet policy speech, that he would make his "final decision" on these corporations ahead of other government-funded organizations that have outlived their usefulness. The idea was to add an impetus to public-sector reform by putting these high-profile corporations on the chopping block.

But the discussions on the privatization issue seem to be going nowhere. Opinion is split among the parties involved, including the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry and the Reform Council, an advisory panel to the minister for administrative reform headed by Mr. Nobuteru Ishihara. In an effort to reach a positive conclusion, the prime minister reportedly intends to create a high-powered third-party panel. But his timing may fall short, for the new panel is not likely to be established before mid-November when budget preparation will already be well under way.

The privatization debate turns on a pivotal question that would directly affect the future of the expressway construction program: what to do with the unfinished part of it. A freeze on the remaining program would be taken as a de facto green light for privatization. Opponents may well use the third-party panel to squelch, change or delay the prime minister's plans.

The foot-dragging over the road corporations is just one example of how the political spotlight is shifting away from "Koizumi reforms." It has been four weeks since the current extraordinary Diet session started, but in the aftermath of last month's terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, his reform agenda has received little attention. The legislature has spent most of its time debating counterterrorism bills. Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties have been preoccupied with negotiating compromises over those measures.

Perhaps the prime minister himself has been so busy dealing with terrorism issues that he has been unable to give much attention to other priorities. "I'm worried about terrorism, day in and day out," he quipped. But he knows, as everyone else does, that there are other things to worry about. One big worry, of course, is the economy, which faces the danger of a deflationary spiral amid fears of a global recession triggered by the terror-stricken U.S. economy. Banking-sector reform is also an urgent priority.

The current Diet session was convened to discuss plans for structural reform and job creation. Now that antiterrorism legislation has passed the Lower House and is certain to clear the Upper House soon, the Koizumi reform program must recapture the spotlight as soon as possible. When he took office, Mr. Koizumi declared he would tackle reform "without fear, hesitation and preconception." He should not allow his opponents to use counterterrorism as an excuse for sabotaging his reform plans.

The Japan Times: Oct. 26, 2001
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     経済構造改革は小泉政権の主な目標だ。4月の就任以来、首相は｢聖域なき構造改革｣を強調してきた。9月には施政方針演説で特殊法人改革など具体策の概略を語り、日本の将来が改革の進展にかかっていると述べた。

     政権は6月、経済財政運営の指針を、9月には優先課題を定めた行動計画を打ち出した。各分野の取組みは、来年度の予算編成が本格化する年末には正念場を迎える。首相の構造改革案は、戦後の体制を揺るがす抜本的な変革を求めており、実行には政府与党の並々ならぬ勇気と決意が必要だ。しかし当初の熱意は急速に冷めつつあるようだ。直接の原因は米国同時多発テロで、一時的にせよ国家的課題の優先順位に影響を与えている。

     政府与党議員らは反テロ対策を口実に、改革の先送りをもくろんでいるようだ。たとえば日本道路公団などの解体案は頓挫したも同然だ。首相は先に、改革にはずみをつけるため、まず道路公団に関する最終決定を下すと述べた。しかしその民営化議論は行き詰まっている。国土交通省や行革断行評議会など、関係者の間で意見が分かれている。首相は第三者的な委員会の設立を検討中だというが、11月の予算案審議には間に合わないだろう。

     道路公団の民営化は、今後の高速道路建設計画に直接の影響を与える重要な問題だ。未着手の整備計画凍結が決まれば、民営化に青信号が出たことになる。民営化反対派は第三者的な委員会を使って首相の計画を潰そうとするだろう。こうした遅滞は、小泉改革の政治的優先度がずれてきた一例にすぎない。

     首相自身もテロ問題に忙殺され、他の優先課題に目を向ける余裕がないのだろう。しかし首相は、憂慮すべき問題が他にあることを知っている。国内経済がデフレスパイラルに陥る危険、米国経済にテロが及ぼした影響が引き金となる世界不況の恐怖がそれだ。今国会の主な議題は構造改革と雇用創出だ。テロ対策法案が衆院を通過し、間もなく参院を通過する見通しであるため、構造改革は再び注目を集めることになろう。就任直後、｢恐れず、ひるまず、とらわれず｣改革を断行すると明言した首相は、反対派がテロ対策を口実に改革を妨害することを許してはならない。

The Japan Times Weekly
Nov. 3, 2001
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