Japanese Premier Again Vows Political Reform : Asia: Renewed promise underscores crisis faced by ruling party. But voters’ disgust with corruption could end its reign.

Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa promised once again to implement political reform as candidates registered Sunday for a crucial election that is expected to change the face of Japanese politics.

The new promise in a street speech in Tokyo underscored both the crisis faced by the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan’s perennial leader, and Miyazawa’s own recognition of voter disgust with continual political corruption.

Voters should make the July 18 election “a grand housecleaning of Liberal Democratic Party money-politics,” Communist Chairman Tetsuzo Fuwa told a crowd in Tokyo.

“This election offers an extremely clear choice: Do you say yes or no to a change of governments?” declared Morihiro Hosokawa, leader of the Japan New Party. The party is widely expected to emerge from its first election battle with a decisive voice in the lower house of Parliament, which elects the prime minister.

In May, Miyazawa promised to carry out political reforms and said, “I have never told a lie.” But reform efforts collapsed, the Socialists branded the prime minister a liar and Liberal Democratic rebels, who ultimately bolted the party, helped pass a no-confidence motion, forcing Miyazawa to call the election.

In renewing the reform promise, Miyazawa charged that the rebels led by former Finance Minister Tsutomu Hata and Ichiro Ozawa, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, are seeking not reform but power. He condemned them for forming an unprincipled alliance with the left-leaning Socialists to seek a five-party coalition.

Liberal Democrats, Miyazawa said, would carry out “political reforms, reforms to enrich living standards and reforms to make Japan an international nation.”

Crippled by the party split, the ruling party goes into the election 29 seats short of a majority in the lower house of Parliament, and most observers expect its 38-year one-party rule to end. The Socialists, the main opposition group, also are expected to suffer a severe setback, making predictions for the outcome hazardous.

The possibilities include:

* An unforeseen Liberal Democratic majority if voters fear instability under an ill-defined opposition coalition.

* A Liberal Democrat-led coalition, with a minimum of change in policies and the possibility of a comeback to full power in the next election.

* An opposition-led coalition promising a sweeping reform of both the election system and controls on political funds but unified on hardly any other issue.

* None of the above--a possibility raised by Hosokawa, a rebel conservative who launched his grass-roots movement against all established parties 15 months ago.

Hosokawa said Saturday that his party could remain aloof from both the Liberal Democrats and their opponents, choosing sides on each issue.

Campaigning began as huge cracks appeared in the framework of post-World War II politics.

Even American leaders, whose opinions frequently influence politics here, for the first time appear to be welcoming the prospect of a Liberal Democratic defeat.

“I think that the changes now going on in Japan, over the long run, (are) going to be good for the Japanese people and good for the American people,” President Clinton said Friday.

Japanese business leaders also appeared surprisingly calm over the possible demise of one-party Liberal Democratic rule.

The Japan Assn. of Business Executives (Keizai Doyukai) released a survey showing that 46% of its members support a non-Liberal Democrat coalition. Seventy-seven percent welcomed the split in the ruling party as a move toward a two-party system.

On the other side of the political fence, labor unions that once provided the funds, the campaign workers, the votes and even the candidates for the Socialists suddenly are breaking their ties with leftist ideologues and are supporting selected “liberal conservatives” of the opposition.

Only 285 Liberal Democrats registered as candidates for the July 18 vote--53 fewer than in the last election in 1990. Only 141 Socialists registered.

The Renewal Party established by conservative defectors Hata and Ozawa put up 69 candidates, while a second group of conservative rebels, the New Party Harbinger, registered 15. Hosokawa’s party is running 55 candidates.