Japanese Cabinet Backs Nakasone on Elections

TOKYO — Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone won Cabinet approval Tuesday to call a special session of Parliament, improving his chances of remaining in office beyond the maximum of four years permitted by his Liberal Democratic Party.

The Cabinet decision puts Japan on the path toward early general elections and formalizes Nakasone’s triumph against rival leaders within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party. They have tried for months to torpedo the popular prime minister’s plans to hold elections for both upper and lower houses of Parliament on the same day.

The special June 2 session is required to dissolve the lower house and set its election date for the same day as that of the upper house. Reports in the Japanese media have pinpointed July 6 as the most likely date for what is referred to here as a daburu (double) election.

Normally, the two chambers have different election schedules. But the Liberal Democrats scored their best results in recent years in 1980, when both lower and upper house seats were contested on the same day.

“In a double election there will be more candidates running, more campaigning and more money spent,” said Hideaki Kase, a political commentator with close ties to conservative members of the ruling party. “All this tends to attract floating voters.”

Party’s Two-Term Limit

The leader of the party that wins the most seats is automatically prime minister, but current party rules do not permit Nakasone a third term as leader. He is hoping that if he leads the party to a clear victory in the double election, the party will be moved to change the rule.

Cabinet approval for Nakasone’s plans came after bitter attacks by Nakasone’s rivals--notably Kiichi Miyazawa, chief of the ruling party’s executive council.

Although lower house elections were not due for another 18 months, the reapportioning of seats as a result of a recent Supreme Court decision has given Nakasone an excuse to call new elections.

Leaders of Japan’s opposition parties have denounced the double election scheme as unconstitutional because the lower house still has a mandate. They have threatened to boycott the June 2 session.

Opposition Fragmented

Although the Liberal Democrats have been in power without interruption since 1955, in recent years they have had difficulty obtaining a working majority in the 511-seat lower house. But since the opposition is fragmented, there is almost no danger of the mandate slipping out of their hands. They are the only group to field enough candidates in any election to be able to form a government.

In recent elections, however, voters have embarrassed the party by giving it slightly less than the 271 seats it needs to keep both a majority in the house and control over key parliamentary committees. The party now has only 250 seats and relies on an eight-member conservative group to maintain a simple majority.

Political commentators have suggested that Nakasone has a good chance of remaining prime minister if the Liberal Democrats are returned with more than 280 seats in the lower house. If they win between 271 and 280, Nakasone will serve out his term until Oct. 31 and retire into the role of influential elder statesman.

Should the party not win even that many seats, he may be forced to resign right away.

Opinion polls indicate, however, that the attractive and articulate Nakasone enjoys the highest popularity of any prime minister in more than 20 years.