Progress on the renewable energy bill and the government bond issuance bill have reassured Prime Minister Kan Naoto that the time has come to announce the date of his resignation. He told the Cabinet at its regular Tuesday meeting that he will resign on Friday (en). The DPJ will have its leadership election Monday the 29th; the Diet vote will take place the next day and a new prime minister will take office just before the buzzer sounds ending the current, extended regular Diet session.
The Kan Cabinet's ratings may be extraordinarily low right now. However, in a few years' time, the populace will likely look back at the tumultuous last 14 months with a bit more appreciation of the man and his era. Unlike his predecessors, both in the case of prime minister and in the case of the leader of the DPJ, he was not a rich man. His only forms of wealth he possessed were those decency and diligence, both of which he displayed during his term in office. He fought off not once but three times a mugging by Ozawa Ichiro, the greatest political meddler of the last 30 years. He may have been too ready to speak inconvenient truths and a terrible campaign organizer -- but at least you knew he cared about the country and its future.
May history treat him better than the domestic press ever did.
I agree with you that Kan will be better appreciated by history than any of the other post-Koizumi prime ministers that we have seen so far. Especially in terms of moving Japan toward renewable energy he will have a respectable legacy, I reckon.
ReplyDeleteI never expected to read anything positive about Kan from you.
ReplyDeleteHe was for the most part correct in the policies he pushed. Had he had the charisma of Koizumi (or at least the economy of '04), he would have been a lot more successful in his pursuits. I'm sad we're losing him, and am not confident in the capabilities of a Maehara premiership, but that is reality.
He will be back, if he has the will and I think he has.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #2 -
ReplyDeleteI doubt that he will return. He has been shaken by how much persons can hate when power is their only goal.
I foresee his role as being more the vocal conscience of the party, a counterbalance to if not a replacement for the two crabby gabbies Watanabe Kozo and Nishioka Takeo.
Anonymous #1 -
ReplyDeleteI have been kind to Kan, praising him for his bravery in touching the third rail of Japanese politics -- raising the consumption tax -- within his first few days in office. He may not have the world's best sense of timing (I note that he goes to Fukushima today to declare formally what he was so bitterly criticized for having said informally several months ago: "Sorry, some of you folks are not going home.") but he made sure during his tenure to stick it to those who needed to be stuck.
Also, I used to live in Kan's district, so it is natural I have a certain affinity for him.
Then again, I used to live right around the corner from Ishihara Nobuteru.