Disagreement in Japan's cabinet about how to handle a feud with Washington has cast doubts on new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's ability to lead, but open expression of differing views may not hurt if properly managed. A plan to relocate a US Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa is the latest issue to set ministers at odds with one another, forcing Hatoyama to distance himself from their remarks. Any sign that the premier is dithering could threaten his strong support rating, currently running at over 70 percent, as his government confronts a range of problems, including bulging public debt, less than a year ahead of an upper house election. The United States says the 2006 base relocation deal must go ahead as part of a realignment of US troops, but Hatoyama wants time to review it as promised by his Democratic Party ahead of its landslide election victory in August. “From the start there has been a question mark over Hatoyama's leadership abilities,” said political analyst Minoru Morita. “With ministers speaking out of turn, people will wonder what Hatoyama's cabinet really thinks ... The image of Hatoyama as indecisive is coming to the fore.” The conservative Yomiuri newspaper said ministers in the 40-day-old government did not seem to realize the impact their comments might have, while a column in the liberal Asahi paper queried Hatoyama's ability to keep his “orchestra” in tune. This week, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa raised eyebrows by saying the existing troop plan inherited from the ousted Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government was, in fact, in line with the Democrats' campaign manifesto. That prompted the top government spokesman to urge ministers to be careful about what they said. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada disagreed with Kitazawa, and repeated his proposal to consider an alternative plan to merge the US Marine base with another US base on Okinawa. Hatoyama himself disagreed with Okada last week over whether it was still feasible to move the base off the island. Healthy debate? The Yomiuri suggested the floating of various ideas by ministers might be a deliberate tactic to gauge public and US reaction before reaching a decision, a method often used by the long-ruling LDP in the past. Even if not orchestrated, some analysts said the disputes reflected the new government's pledge to have politicians, not bureaucrats, take the lead on policies, and need not be harmful. “On the whole I think this is an improvement,” said Tobias Harris, who writes Observing Japan, a blog on Japanese politics. “The important thing is that disagreements are managed, that there is a process for resolving disputes and formulating policies that all can accept once the prime minister makes his decision.” Implementing the plan as it stands would please Washington, which is seeking a resolution ahead of US President Barack Obama's trip to Tokyo next month. But it would likely spark fury among opponents of US bases on Okinawa, who say its residents bear an unfair share of the burden of the 47,000-strong US military presence in Japan. It could also undermine the government coalition with the tiny pacifist Social Democratic Party, one of two small partners whose support Hatoyama needs to pass laws smoothly in parliament's upper house. The internal discord could make it hard for Tokyo to counter US pressure. Foreign Minister Okada is trying to organize a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to smooth over the issue ahead of Obama's visit, media reports said, possibly on Nov. 6. But the Sankei newspaper added that Washington was reluctant to hold discussions unless Japan had a concrete plan to present. Few analysts expect strains over security ties to affect trade and investment ties between the world's two largest economies. But damage to US-Japan ties could raise geopolitical uncertainty in a region home to a rising China and an unpredictable North Korea.
