Nakasone Urges Political Reform to Restore Zeal for Democracy

Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone urged Monday that Japan reform its post-World War II political system by ending reliance on tired precedents and ritualistic mannerisms and restoring a lost zeal to democracy.

Although the 68-year-old leader did not specify the changes he has in mind, his appeal appeared designed, in part, to add yet another item of reform to a growing list of innovations on which he has built the third-longest term of any prime minister since the end of World War II. Last fall, his governing Liberal Democratic Party changed party rules to allow him to stay in office for an extra year, until Oct. 30, 1987.

Nakasone’s statement was made in a policy speech on the opening day of a new session of Parliament and came as a leading businessman urged that he be allowed to stay in office until the end of President Reagan’s term to capitalize upon his close relationship with Reagan to maintain smooth U.S.-Japanese relations.

‘Assets and Liabilities’

Reiterating the appeal he has made since he took office in November, 1982, for an “overall review of assets and liabilities” of Japan’s 42 postwar years, Nakasone cited, for the first time, what he called a need “to conduct serious study and constructive debate of the whole of our postwar democratic politics.”

He cited as weaknesses a lack of sufficient progress in “establishing democratic government and party politics.” He also called for “streamlining and democratizing (government) administration” and “providing appropriate checks and balances and cooperation between the legislative and executive branches.”

The functioning of political parties and their “ability to reflect the public will” also need renovation, Nakasone declared.

In recent years, he said, there has occurred “a waning of the fiery postwar zeal to enhance democratic government.” He also complained about what he called an increasing tendency to make decisions relying merely upon “tired precedents” and “mannerisms and formalities . . . in ritualistic repetition.”

‘Dare to Achieve’

“I wonder if we have not lost the will to press forward with reforming democratic government and to dare to achieve new progress in our parliamentary democracy,” he said.

The only specific renovation he advocated was “fundamentally reforming the apportionment” of seats in the lower house of Parliament. Last May, a redistribution of 13 seats was carried out in the 512-seat chamber. As calculated by the number of votes needed to elect a single representative, however, it left urban citizens’ votes worth only a third or less of those of rural residents.

The prime minister, also for the first time in a policy speech, called for rectifying gaping disparities between the high prices that Japanese consumers pay for agricultural goods and prices on the international market. He advocated, however, “structural improvements (in Japanese farming) so that agricultural products can be made available to the people at reasonable prices.” He said nothing about lifting restrictions on imports of farm goods.

Nakasone offered no new explanation for the dismantling of an official 1976 official policy of limiting defense spending to 1% of the gross national product. He repeated an announcement made after a Cabinet decision on Saturday that spending from fiscal 1986 through fiscal 1990 would be limited to the figure of 18.4 trillion yen, in 1985 prices, called for in a five-year defense buildup approved in September, 1985. That yen figure amounts to $122.7 billion at an exchange rate of 150 yen to the dollar.

$25.7 Billion Average

Discounting sums already approved or budgeted for 1986 and 1987, a total of $77 billion remains for defense spending between fiscal 1988 and fiscal 1990, a spokesman for the Defense Agency acknowledged Monday. Average spending for 1988-90 would amount to $25.7 billion a year, compared with $23.4 billion in the fiscal 1987 budget, which Parliament is expected to approve.

Despite the apparent lifting of the 1%-of-GNP ceiling, the new limit for 1988-’90 spending will actually hold increases in the defense budget during those years to less than the planned 5.4% growth in fiscal 1987 spending.

Nakasone earlier estimated that defense spending would not exceed 1.02% of the GNP through fiscal 1990. The fiscal 1987 defense budget amounts to an estimated 1.004% of the GNP.

Meanwhile, Noboru Goto, president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, launched a movement in business circles to secure an additional year in office for Nakasone by urging that Nakasone be allowed to stay until Reagan’s term ends.

Noting that Reagan will remain in office through 1988, Goto said, “I see no reason why Nakasone should have to quit (when his term expires Oct. 30) at the cost of Japan-U.S. relations, which have been strengthened through his close relations with President Reagan.”

The appeal, made in an interview published by the Japan Times on Monday, was the first public call for yet another extension of Nakasone’s term in office.