Fumio Kishida faces a difficult problem: the administration does its own thing, and it is not easy for the official residence to lead political corrections
Page after page was flipped through a stack of papers plastered around with notes. The Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno quickly scanned through thick lenses. The air suddenly became quiet at the press conference, and he did not find the answer to the question.
"As for the specific topic, I don't have relevant information in my hand. I wait for the affairs side to report this matter." At the Chief Cabinet Secretary's regular press conference on December 1, when asked about the comprehensive ban on international flights to Japan issued by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Hiroshi Matsuno's face was dazed.
As the newly appointed cabinet "chief steward", Hiroshi Matsuno was speechless about the vital anti-epidemic immigration policy at the moment. It was a moment of "community death".
This also means that the cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is not aware of the fact that thousands of Japanese are about to be turned away from the country.
As the new crown mutant strain "Omi Keron" spread, Kishida Fumio announced on November 29 that the entry of foreigners from all countries and regions was suspended, and he did not know that he had been kept in the dark by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. On his own initiative, all Japanese airlines are required to stop all new inbound flight bookings, causing some Japanese people to be unable to return home with their homes.
Only two days after the execution of this order did the Prime Minister’s residence receive the relevant report and stop it immediately.
Withdrawal of the ban on flights to Japan, apology, review... Kishida Fumio was ignored by the provincial government at the beginning of his tenure, and his leadership was questioned. Such things were unheard of during the first two prime ministers.
Since Shinzo Abe came to power until Yoshihide Suga took over, the prime minister’s residence-led politics has been continuously strengthened, bureaucratic power has been continuously weakened, and the government and the ruling party have also shown a clear "policy high and low party."
After taking office as a "listening politician," Fumio Kishida tried to correct the track of "the official residence one strong", smelling the wind direction of Kasumigaseki (the name of the place in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, where the headquarters of many central administrative agencies are located, and it is the administrative center of Japan. ) The bureaucracy "preemptive strike", testing the power boundary of the new prime minister.
Break the "high political officials low"?
In the face of "Omi Keron," Fumio Kishida immediately announced the ban on entry of foreigners. Although this move was criticized by the World Health Organization as "incomprehensible", it was well received in Japan.
According to a poll released by the Yomiuri Shimbun on December 5, the approval rate of the Kishida cabinet has increased by 6 percentage points from a month ago, reaching 62%.
Although "sense of speed" has become the label of Fumio Kishida's first anti-epidemic show, a bolt from the blue has also followed.
In the early morning of December 2, when Fumio Kishida entered the prime minister's residence, he saw reporters who had been waiting for a long time. As expected, he was asked about the suspension of flights to Japan.
He immediately apologized and said: “(The instructions) brought chaos to some people.” Later, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Tetsuo Saito also apologized to the people through the media.
In fact, both of them just learned of this the day before.
According to the "Mainichi Shimbun" report, Matsuno received a report from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism two days late after finishing the press conference on the afternoon of the 1st. He asked the provincial officials: "Is it really okay to stop all flights? Hope? Consider the needs of the Japanese to return home.” That night, Matsuno reported the matter to Kishida through the Prime Minister's Secretary.
"Please don't do this again in the future." Kishida instructed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to reconsider flight restrictions, and announced on December 2 that it would withdraw the ban on flight reservations.
Japan Airlines and the Japanese who are going to return to their homeland expressed confusion about the government's bewildering behavior, and voices of distress one after another.
In the past, it is not uncommon for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to require airlines to suspend the opening of flight bookings. However, during the epidemic period, there is no exception for a month-long flight booking ban involving all Japanese airlines.
According to Japanese administrative practice, when communicating important decisions between various ministries and agencies and the prime minister's residence, they usually make decisions through the deputy chief of the cabinet and the prime minister's secretary. However, no one knew about the prime minister's official residence this time.
An unnamed provincial cadre revealed to Japanese media TBS that the "post-incident report" of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism was surprising.
"After Kishida came to power, the opinions of various ministries and agencies increased. In the era of Abe and Yoshihide Suga, government departments were commanded by the prime minister’s residence and some decisions (of government departments) would be overturned by (the prime minister’s residence), and now (the former) ) Seems to be able to have more independent judgments. This is also the result of Prime Minister (Kishida) wanting to break away from the strong ruling style of Abe and Suga and highlight the colors of Kishida."
After Japan’s former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (in office from 1996 to 1998) implemented administrative reforms, the functions of the prime minister and his official residence have been strengthened. Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (in office from 2001 to 2006) also enjoyed the results of the reform. The system matured in the Abe era.
Looking back at the previous two prime ministers, Abe established the Cabinet Personnel Bureau in 2014 to manage the appointment of posts at or above the deputy bureau level in various provinces and departments. After that, he also established a decision-making mechanism for a small number of cabinet officials to deal with issues.
As a result, the prime minister and chief cabinet officer can directly control the bureaucracy over the ministers, deputy ministers, and administrative officials of the provinces and departments. This causes a further imbalance of "political high officials and low officials", and bureaucrats who act as social "stabilizers" gradually lose their independence.
In the early stage of the new crown epidemic in 2020, Abe Lightning instructed the country to suspend classes, games, and work, which was opposed by many local governments.
Later, without coordinating with the health department, he distributed small cloth masks ridiculed as "Abe masks" and was again approved.
According to the "Asahi Shimbun", the Prime Minister's official residence is oblivious to bureaucratic inactivity and lazy to introduce new policies.
Yoshihide Suga did the same when he was the Chief Cabinet Secretary and Prime Minister. He weakened the "territorial awareness" of the ministries and departments and concentrated the decision-making power on the prime minister's residence.
Before the election of the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, an unnamed employee of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare told Japanese media: “In terms of epidemic prevention policies, the prime minister’s residence is often'difficult to be difficult'. I hope that the next prime minister will not interfere too much in Kasugaki.”
After he took office as prime minister, Kishida stated that when he explained the principles of governance, he emphasized "listening to listening": "We will implement cautious and tolerant politics." He stated that he will avoid concentration of power.
With the establishment of the Kishida Cabinet, the Deputy Chief of the Cabinet Kazuhiro Sugita and the Prime Minister’s Assistant Officer Izumi Hiroshi, who had been reused in the Abe and Suga government, stepped down.
Japan's current affairs news weekly "AERA" published an article pointed out that the "official residence bureaucrats" who have long commanded various ministries and departments to withdraw, and the new Ministry of Personnel has brought a sense of peace of mind to Kasumigaseki, and the situation of the strongest official residence may change.
The crisis of "political high party high"
In the chess game of Japanese politics, the linkage between officials and officials, and between the government and the party constitutes a power system.
The pattern of "politics high and low officials" (politicians dominate bureaucrats) and "politics high and low parties" (government overruling the ruling party) formed over the years has made this game of "one-sided" trend.
After being selected as the president of the Democratic Party, Fumio Kishida first started with the relationship between the government and the Liberal Democratic Party and changed the strong position of the official residence.
He described the relationship between the government and the party as "the two wheels of a car", and decision-making should follow the principle of "policy high and party high" to demonstrate personal governance characteristics.
According to "Yomiuri Shimbun" reports, before the convening of the provisional parliament, Fumio Kishida had frequent contacts with senior officials of the Liberal Democratic Party. On November 16th and 18th, he went to the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party one after another to meet with party vice president Taro Aso and party secretary Toshimitsu Mogi.
At noon on November 22, the three people again appeared in a hotel in Tokyo to have a dinner, discussing the future operation of the regime, and expressed their strong intention to improve the relationship between the government and the Liberal Democratic Party.
A person from the Liberal Democratic Party told the Nikkan Hyundai that Kishida is actually uniting the faction led by Aso and Motegi in the name of "political high party high" in an attempt to disrupt Abe's powerful influence in the party, "is a man of good strategy. "
However, changing the decision-making structure is not easy.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Kishida used economic countermeasures under the epidemic and the preparation of the 2022 budget as the "touchstone" of reforms. They were jointly formulated with the participation of all members of Congress in the form of discussions. However, because of the opposition between the Prime Minister’s residence and the Party Executive Department’s line Into chaos.
In addition, in the process of formulating the Liberal Democratic Party convention, Sanae Takaichi, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s political investigation, has disagreeed with Kishida because of his adherence to the conservative policy advocated by Abe.
"Abe and Takashi control the power of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the prime minister may be just a front." An unnamed politician who had served as a cabinet minister told Jiji News Agency that although Fumio Kishida tried to modify the official residence to dominate politics, it might lead to "party high". Low politics” situation.
Taro Kono, who is currently the head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Public Report, once reminded Kishida, “If it’s not a'political high party low', it will be troublesome, because it is the government that bears the responsibility in the parliament.”
As Fumio Kishida has been criticized by the outside world for lack of courage, the “Kishida color” has become a major concern from the appointment of cabinet personnel to the implementation of policies. Although he continues to explore the leadership line that is different from the previous two prime ministers, he is now Revising the official residence dominates politics like walking on thin ice.