Among the jargon of Japanese politics, there’s a term called « Cabinet post waiting list »(Nyukaku taiki gumi). That list probably played a key role in the p
Among the jargon of Japanese politics, there’s a term called “Cabinet post waiting list”( Nyukaku taiki gumi). That list probably played a key role in the power game seen in Tuesday’s Cabinet reshuffle carried out by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, political analysts say.
The concept is a remnant of the old system probably dating back to the 1970s, when the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was comfortably in power and arbitrarily distributed Cabinet positions among members of influential intraparty factions.
At that time, the only condition for Lower House members to be given a Cabinet post was that they had to survive a national election five times or more and be recommended by their faction boss, regardless of their ability or expertise. For Upper House lawmakers, whose term is six years, the attached condition was that they had to win an election three or more times.
“Now it looks as if Japan has gone back to the 1970s. It appears Cabinet posts have been automatically distributed based on whose turn it is,” said Katsuyuki Yakushiji, professor of political science at Toyo University, commenting on Abe’s new Cabinet members.
“Looking at the lineup, I don’t feel any passion or energy (from Abe) to tackle critical issues confronting Japan now,” such as the graying population, growing government debt and a shaky public social security system, Yakushiji told The Japan Times.
In fact, among the 19 Cabinet members, 12 were handed a Cabinet post for the first time, the largest-ever number for an Abe Cabinet.
Eleven of the 12 new members met the Cabinet post waiting list conditions and many of them are believed to have been recommended by the five LDP factions that supported Abe in last month’s LDP presidential election. Although Satsuki Katayama, new regional revitalization minister, has only been elected to the Upper House twice, she was also elected to the Lower House once before that and so is considered to meet the list’s conditions.
