The abrupt resignation Friday of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama stunned Japan and triggered a political struggle that will lead not only to a new prime minister but perhaps also to a major political realignment.
The resignation of Murayama, 71, who was regarded by much of the electorate as equally honorable and incompetent, is expected to lead to a generational shift toward younger and more dynamic leaders.Although Murayama did not formally name a successor, he is said to have privately anointed Ryutaro Hashimoto, the trade minister and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, which is in coalition with Murayama's Socialists.
The elevation of Hashimoto, 58, would signify a remarkable recovery for the Liberal Democratic Party, which governed Japan for nearly four decades straight before being ousted in elections in 1993. Then ridiculed as corrupt, exhausted and devoid of ideas, the party now seems set to regain the top spot in the government.
The Liberal Democrats were sobered by their time in the political wilderness, however, for Hashimoto does not fit the stereotype of a corrupt power broker with an instinct for compromise. Instead, he was chosen partly because of his appeal to voters, based on a clean record and a telegenic ability to speak his mind and project energy.
Hashimoto is of a younger and more assertive generation, and his ascendance would set up a head-on clash with another hard-charging leader, 53-year-old Ichiro Ozawa of the New Frontier Party, the largest opposition group.