Fukuda cuts short European visit

Fukuda cuts short European visit

By David Pilling in Tokyo

Published: April 16 2008 08:53 | Last updated: April 16 2008 22:45

A parliamentary tussle over petrol tax on Wednesday forced Yasuo Fukuda, Japan’s prime minister, to cancel a visit to Britain, France and Germany next month, in a sign that his domestic problems are spilling over into his international agenda.

Mr Fukuda, who took office last September, had hoped to meet as many Group of Eight leaders as possible before July, when he hosts the G8 summit in Hokkaido. On Wednesday, officials said he would try to arrange a trip to Europe before July, but admitted that scheduling difficulties might make this impossible.

Nobutaka Machimura, chief cabinet secretary, sought to blame the opposition for the prime minister’s predicament. “This is by no means good for Japan’s national interest,” he said.

“There is a principle around the world that partisanship stops at the water’s edge, but unfortunately developments here are not conforming to that rule.”

The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which controls the upper house, has brought parliamentary business to a virtual standstill, blocking various government initiatives. The DPJ has used its veto temporarily to end a naval mission to the Indian Ocean, to keep the post of Bank of Japan governor vacant for three weeks and to scrap a 30-year tax on petrol. Ratings for Mr Fukuda’s administration have slumped into the 20s, according to opinion polls.

It is considering using a two-thirds majority in the lower house to ram through a reinstatement of the petrol tax. Officials said uncertainties over the parliamentary schedule made a trip to Europe impractical, although an April 25-27 visit to Moscow would go ahead.

Takao Toshikawa, a political analyst at Inside Line, a newsletter, said putting the petrol tax back up would be unpopular and further damage poll ratings. “I think his decision not to go to Europe shows what serious trouble he is in,” he said.

The prime minister faces stiff tests in the next few weeks that could decide the fate of his administration, say analysts.

One is a by-election in Yamaguchi, western Japan. A loss for the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) could embolden the opposition to pass a non-binding censure motion in the upper house, particularly if Mr Fukuda used his lower-house majority to force through a petrol tax rise.

Mr Toshikawa said he could not rule out Mr Fukuda being forced to quit before Japan hosted the G8 summit, though he said LDP politicians might hold back for fear of damaging Japan’s international reputation.