Japan’s Outgoing Party Sabotages Vote on New Prime Minister

The outgoing Liberal Democratic Party, exercising what power it still has, on Thursday sabotaged a vote in Parliament to choose Japan’s new prime minister, expected to be Morihiro Hosokawa, head of a multi-party coalition.

At 9:34 p.m., more than 8 1/2 hours after a full session of the lower house was to be convened, scheduled votes to choose a new Speaker and the new prime minister were called off for the day, the first time since 1963 that such a snafu has occurred. Hosokawa, as a result, was forced to delay his selection of a Cabinet. The stalemate continued today.

Keigo Ouchi, chairman of the Democratic Socialist Party and a partner in the coalition, predicted that the vote won’t be held until Monday, or later, because Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will leave this afternoon to attend the funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium. Akihito, who must preside over an attestation ceremony of the new Cabinet, and the empress are scheduled to return Monday.

The only event that went off on schedule Thursday was the resignation of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and his Cabinet.

The Liberal Democrats insist that traditionally the position of Speaker of the lower house goes to the party with the largest number of seats. Although the Liberal Democrats failed to win a majority in a lower house election July 18, they remain the largest single party with 228 seats, 45% of the total.

The coalition to be headed by Hosokawa, 55, controls 260 seats, a majority of five. It insisted that its candidate, former Socialist Party Chairwoman Takako Doi, be given the post.

Japan has not had a coalition government since 1948, so the issue has not arisen in 45 years.

The Liberal Democrats also demanded that the coalition pick one representative, instead of five, to negotiate parliamentary procedures.

In a caucus, Yohei Kono, 56, who was elected as the Liberal Democrats’ new president last Friday, vowed to stand on principle in the new session of Parliament and present to voters an image of a “fighting party” pledged to regaining power as quickly as possible.

The Liberal Democrats, who have governed Japan since 1955, were using obstructionist tactics that the opposition parties have used on them. Just last year, for instance, the Socialists delayed a bill authorizing the use of Japanese armed forces as U.N. peacekeepers. Although the bill eventually passed, they prolonged a series of votes to 13 hours by resorting to “cow walking,” in which each legislator inched his or her way to the podium to cast a ballot.