Watanabe spills a few beans from coalition confab

TSUNEO WATANABE, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings and Japan’s reigning media baron, appeared on a taped television program broadcast on the Nippon Television Network on the 21st and provided the first background information on the ill-fated conference held between Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and main opposition party head Ichiro Ozawa, the Jiji Press reports.

Observers of the Japanese political scene will recall that the two leaders discussed a grand coalition between the ruling Liberal Democratic party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. Thus ensued a farcical chain of events in which Mr. Ozawa resigned as DPJ head after being chastised by party elders for taking part in the talks, only to return three days later.

Mr. Watanabe (photo) arranged the conference with the help of either former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori or former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, depending on which story you believe.

Of interest is Mr. Watanabe’s assertion that a deal had been struck in which Mr. Ozawa would have entered the Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister, but without specific duties (muninsho in Japanese, the term used for ministers without portfolio). He also said that agreement had been reached on the distribution of other Cabinet posts.

In fact, he said the deal would have given 10 Cabinet posts to the ruling LDP, six to the DPJ, and one to the ruling coalition’s junior partner New Komeito. Of the six posts, Mr. Ozawa is said to have asked for the portfolios of the ministries of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport; Health, Labor, and Welfare; and Agriculture, Farming, and Fisheries. It was also his idea to be given the post of Deputy Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, a Sankei Shimbun report on the program focuses on other aspects of the interview. They quote Mr. Watanabe as saying, “A movement will emerge in the future to create a stable administration.” They take this to mean that the two parties have not given up on the idea of creating a coalition government.

Mr. Watanabe also said he has not met with Ichiro Ozawa since the original coalition discussions ended because “a cooling-off period” is necessary. He thinks the primary reason the talks failed was that “Mr. Ozawa took it for granted that party leaders would immediately agree to whatever he said.”
　
Interestingly enough, Yasuhiro Nakasone, one of those rumored to have been involved as a go-between, appeared with Mr. Watanabe on the program. He offered this forecast: “A coalition government (of some sort) will probably be created after the next election.” He also gave his opinion that the previous discussions of a grand coalition were held too hastily, and that Mr. Ozawa should have talked it over first with party leaders Naoto Kan and Yukio Hatoyama.

This is the first time Mr. Watanabe has provided behind-the-scenes details about the conference. Mr. Ozawa, however, has repeatedly denied that these arrangements were made. He told a press conference, “Mr. Watanabe wasn’t present at the talks. I have no intention of saying anything more than is required about those discussions (with Prime Minister Fukuda), but I will say only this: It didn’t happen that way.”

Both of these men are quite capable of ma-aka no uso, or bright red lies, as the Japanese say, so there’s no vouching for the veracity of the report. Of the two men, however, Mr. Watanabe might have less to lose by telling the truth.

On an unrelated note, I discovered by accident that Tsuneo Watanabe was named the Cannes 2007 Media Person of the year at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The press release, which you can read here, quotes Terry Savage, Executive Chairman of the Festival:

“Historically Cannes Lions has looked West when making this most important and prestigious award. This year we are looking East. In recognising Tsuneo Wantanabe, we are honouring a leader who has contributed to building one of the great media organisations in the world, a leader who has the awesome responsibility of publishing the largest circulation newspaper in the world. A leader who has not just embraced press, but also TV, radio and a range of other media and business ventures.”

Endnote: The above is summarized from Jiji Press and Sankei Shimbun articles. I didn’t see the program in question.