GLUM American voters can only imagine the funk that envelops Japanese politics. The governing Democratic Party of Japan meets Monday to select the nation's seventh prime minister in six years.
In office only 15 months, Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced Friday he would resign after his party picks a new leader. Kan was supposed to be the creative outsider who could combine strong public approval ratings and the DPJ's decisive parliamentary advantage to overhaul the economy. Then came the twin disasters in March.
The tsunami and flooding that took out the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triggered a national tragedy and it created a political opportunity Kan failed to exploit. The public wanted leadership in the wake of the natural and nuclear calamities, but he was not perceived as having delivered. He championed a move away from nuclear power — embraced by the public and loathed by the political establishment — but Kan's intentions became muddled.
Internal party politics and scandal complicate even the guessing about a successor for Kan. If events proceed on course, the DPJ's choice on Monday would be endorsed Tuesday by the lower house of parliament, which the party controls. If names are in short supply, desirable traits are not. Key among them, communication skills.
Expect the next prime minister to be a chatterbox. A willingness to meet and greet the public and media is a must. Kan's reluctance to engage anxious Japanese citizens cost him dearly.
Japan's economy, the envy of the planet in the 1980s, has been dormant for two decades. Government debt is the largest among developed nations. Japan's economic and political systems spent years avoiding tough decisions.
The nuclear disaster adds a basic concern about how to safely keep the lights on.
Survey results find frustrated Americans eager to throw the bums out and start fresh. Japan's experience is that experience counts. They crave continuity.
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