Mr. Hatoyama's resignation to bring a 'new' and 'cleaner' DPJ
(From The Japan Times June 3 issue)

首相辞任で新しいクリーンな党へ

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned June 2, nine months after bringing historic change to Japanese politics by ending more than five decades of almost uninterrupted Liberal Democratic Party rule.

In leading his Democratic Party of Japan to an overwhelming victory in the Aug. 30 Lower House election, Mr. Hatoyama had criticized the short political life spans of LDP prime ministers since 2006 for diminishing Japan's credibility in the international community. It is extremely regrettable that he himself had to step down after only a little more than eight months in power.

DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa also resigned from his post. It is hoped that a new DPJ leadership can break what looks like party stagnation and regain people's trust. As he said in his speech June 2 before DPJ Diet members, Mr. Hatoyama was resigning mainly for two reasons: his failure to keep his promise to relocate the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, out of Okinawa Prefecture, and a political funds scandal that included his mother's provision of some \1.26 billion to him over years.

His repeated promise to move the Futenma functions out of the prefecture had heightened expectations among Okinawans, who have suffered from the presence of U.S. military bases, which occupy about 18 percent of Okinawa Island.

Mr. Hatoyama's final decision to basically keep intact the 2006 Japan-U.S. pact to move the Futenma runway to the Henoko area in Nago, in the northern part of Okinawa Island, angered and disappointed Okinawans. A Kyodo News poll after his Futenma decision showed the Hatoyama administration's approval rating at 19.1 percent &8212; a sharp drop from the 72 percent it enjoyed immediately after its inauguration in September.

The Futenma decision also led to the Social Democratic Party's bolting from the ruling coalition, as Mr. Hatoyama dismissed SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima from her consumer affairs ministerial post for refusing to support the Futenma decision. The fall in the Cabinet's approval rating and the departure of the SDP caused panic and anger among DPJ Upper House members who face election in July &8212; and for whom election campaign cooperation with the SDP is indispensable. The voice of DPJ lawmakers who felt disadvantaged in the coming Upper House election if Mr. Hatoyama remained as the party's face was a decisive factor that led to his resignation.

Mr. Hatoyama as well as DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa &8212; the DPJ regime's two top leaders &8212; were dogged by political funds scandals. Polls showed that more than 70 percent of those surveyed wanted Mr. Ozawa to resign as DPJ secretary general because of scandals involving his funds management body.

Mr. Hatoyama disclosed in his speech that he had asked Mr. Ozawa to resign with him. He told Mr. Ozawa that with their simultaneous resignation, "the DPJ can create a new DPJ, a cleaner DPJ." Mr. Hatoyama's request and Mr. Ozawa's acceptance of it represent courageous and wise actions on their parts to save the DPJ.

Although Mr. Hatoyama has been criticized for lacking leadership, his administration was not without achievements. It put into practice the idea of Cabinet members taking the initiative in developing policy, departing from the LDP's political style.

The Hatoyama administration adopted the policy of distributing benefits directly to people, rather than giving them to particular groups, such as the monthly allowance of \13,000 per child irrespective of the family's income size and the measure to make public high schools tuition-free.

A new DPJ leadership and a new Cabinet must make the utmost effort to have democratic discussion take root in the party so that effective policies will be developed openly and with smooth cooperation between the party and the Cabinet. Originally, the DPJ was a kind of toy box, made up of politicians from different party affiliations of the past. By now, though, leaders and members should have learned how to unite and what to avoid in maintaining a credible governing party.

民主党の鳩山首相は6月2日、50年もの自民党一党支配政治を終結させ、歴史的政権交替もたらし、9ヵ月目で退陣を表明した。自民党の首相交代が近年相次いだことを批判し、国際社会における日本の信頼性を損なうと述べた彼自身がすぐに辞任したことは非常に残念だ。

小沢幹事長も辞任した今、新執行部が党の不振を払拭し、国民の信頼を取り戻すことが期待される。総理辞任の主な理由は、普天間基地の県外移設を果たせなかったことと、母親からの12億6千万円の資金提供を含む政治資金問題だ。

米軍普天間飛行場の移設問題では、2006年の日米合意内容をほぼ踏襲して沖縄県民の怒りを買った。政府の対処方針に反対した社民党の福島消費者・少子化担当相が罷免され、社民党が連立を離脱。内閣支持率低下と社民党の離脱は、参院選を控え社民の協力が不可欠な民主党参院議員の混乱を招き、首相退陣の決め手となった。

首相と小沢幹事長は政治資金問題の疑惑を払拭できず、資金管理団体による違反に関連して幹事長辞任を求める声は世論調査で7割以上にのぼった。

｢新しい民主党、よりクリーンな民主党｣を目指してダブル辞任に至ったという首相は、統治能力欠如を指摘されたものの、鳩山政権が功績を挙げなかったわけではない。内閣主導の政治を実践し、こども手当や高校無償化などや｢地域主権｣、地域社会、役所、NPOが協力しあう「新しい公共」を推進した。

新首相と新内閣は、党内に自由な論議が根付くよう努め、党と内閣が協力のもと透明性と実効性のある政策づくりを目指すべきだ。民主党は、信頼のおける与党であるために何を避けるべきか学んでもいいころだ