Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda replaced five members of his Cabinet yesterday in a bid to win more cooperation from the opposition to raise the sales tax and rein in the country’s bulging fiscal deficit.
Two of the removed ministers had been censured by the opposition, including former minister of defense Yasuo Ichikawa, who claimed he was unaware of the details of a 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen on the island of Okinawa — an incident that continues to deeply impact local support for the large US troop presence there.
The opposition, which controls the less powerful upper house of parliament, had threatened to reject any discussion about key tax legislation unless Ichikawa was fired.
Twelve posts were unchanged, including finance and foreign minister. The 17-member Cabinet was to have been formally installed later yesterday in a ceremony with the emperor.
Noda, who took office in September, says Japan urgently needs to take steps to reduce its debt burden as the nation ages and its labor force shrinks, putting a greater burden on the social security and tax systems. He has promised to submit a bill in the next parliamentary session to raise the 5 percent sales tax in two stages, to 8 percent in 2014 and to 10 percent by 2015.
The reshuffle will “strengthen our government to tackle the major policy goal of social security and tax reforms,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said in announcing the new lineup.
Noda named Katsuya Okada, a former foreign minister, as deputy prime minister to spearhead those efforts.
Noda’s public approval rating has slid below 40 percent amid resistance to raising the sales tax and a general lack of confidence in political leadership in Japan, which has seen a new prime minister every year for the past six years.
Japan’s divided parliament makes it difficult for Noda to pass legislation. The tax issue has also divided the ruling Democratic party, with powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa and his supporters saying that raising taxes would hurt the already weak economy.
Noda has said his government’s priorities also include leading reconstruction efforts after the devastating tsunami and bringing “rebirth” to the area around the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in March last year. The government said a month ago that the plant is essentially stable despite widespread skepticism, with experts warning it remains vulnerable to earthquakes.
The new defense minister, Naoki Tanaka, is a relative of former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka, one of Japan’s most powerful politicians, who had been felled by a corruption scandal. He is replacing Ichikawa, who had boasted that his lack of experience with security issues would allow him to view them with a fresh perspective.
Ichikawa’s claim of ignorance about the Okinawa rape case complicated already-stalled efforts to move an important US Marine Corps base which is a key element in Washington’s plans to restructure its forces in Asia.
Jin Matsubara will replace former consumer affairs minister Kenji Yamaoka, who was censured for making comments in support of a pyramid marketing scheme, perceived as shady in Japan. He was also criticized for reportedly comparing the collapse of the euro with the tsunami, which was deemed insensitive to the victims of that disaster.
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
Eleven people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, 2024 in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of then-Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor’s office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime opened another probe into
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
RSS