Word: premiership
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Both former prime ministers Takeo Fukuda and Takeo Miki have vilified Tanaka and the money politics he stands for, and they have extended their hatred to Ohira. Fukuda and Miki blame the Ohira-Tanaka alliance for depriving them of the premiership on several occasions. Miki also campaigns on a clean government plank, and has urged reforming the system of election for party president to estinguish the potential for bribery that Tanaka exploited so successfully. Tanaka in turn despises Miki as the man who jailed him in 1974 and fought to prosecute all offenders in the Lockheed case...
...party elections in the Diet to determine the new prime minister. At one point, the Fukuda camp set up a blockade to prevent Ohira supporters from entering the Diet. Burly Ohira guards smashed the barrier, screaming obscenities into whirring television cameras. Ohira himself blocked Diet votes on the premiership three times, holding out to retain his power while the Diet remained paralyzed. After futile attempts at compromise with Fukuda, Ohira retained his seat by a mere 17 votes in the first runoff premier election in Japan's short parliamentary history...
When the Diet finally reassembled last week, it faced a situation unprecedented in Japan's 33-year postwar parliamentary history: two candidates from the same party, Ohira and Fukuda, vying for the premiership. Elected on the second ballot by a 17-vote margin, Ohira owed his victory to the support of a conservative breakaway party, the New Liberal Club. The win did little to enhance Ohira's stature, either in the Diet or in his own party. Fumed one L.D.P. member: "At first, I didn't think he should resign, but later I decided he should...
...committee report on the settlements, despite the fact that they had been sent to his home. Even one of Begin's protective aides admits deep concern: "It seems that his physical condition is deteriorating quickly. I do not know when, but he will have to quit the premiership. It might happen tomorrow, next week-or next year...
...three largest parties, which have been unable to make the compromises necessary for a lasting coalition. The Communists, who dropped to 30% of the vote in last June's election, demand Cabinet seats in any government they support. The Socialists, who gained slightly, to 10%, want the premiership for themselves. The Christian Democrats, who maintained their predominance with 38%, refuse both conditions and cannot even decide which ally they might prefer...