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By Times wire services
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 4, 2000
TOKYO -- Members of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party scrambled early today to name a new head for the government, as Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi lay in a coma after suffering a massive stroke.
Speculation mounted that Yoshiro Mori, 62, secretary general of the LDP, would be named to replace Obuchi, also 62, who was incapacitated after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage Sunday.
Officials suggested the transfer could take place as early as this afternoon, when the Cabinet might be dissolved. No significant changes in Japan's economic or foreign policies are expected if Mori assumes the post.
"He's not good or bad," political analyst Masanari Ito said of Mori. "He's a wait-and-see person and will continue Obuchi's policy direction."
Broadcaster NHK reported that Obuchi remained in a "very dangerous condition" and suggested he was near death.
Details of the transfer of power in the world's second-largest economy remained unclear.
About 40 hours after the prime minister was first taken to a Tokyo hospital complaining of fatigue, chief Cabinet secretary and acting Prime Minister Mikio Aoki confirmed Monday that Obuchi had suffered a stroke and was breathing with the aid of a respirator.
Aoki told reporters that he met with Obuchi at 7 p.m. Sunday in the hospital and that the prime minister authorized the transfer of power, citing a Cabinet law that allows the head of government to designate a successor. Aoki said Obuchi was "speaking clearly at the time." An hour later, Aoki said, Obuchi suffered a massive stroke.
"I personally decided to assume the post (of prime minister) because no one can contact the prime minister anymore," Aoki said.
Opposition politicians and political analysts wondered why there were no witnesses to the transfer of power.
"It's essentially a question of legitimacy and of how voters will perceive the transition," said Shigenori Okazaki, a political analyst. "It's entirely possible that the ruling party will be forced to call a new election."
Throughout the crisis, neither Japan's mass media nor the nation's citizens were told in a timely way about the medical condition of their prime minister.
"It's a coverup," said Atsushi Yamada, a columnist for Asahi Shimbun. "Clearly there's a lack of basic understanding that the prime minister is a public figure."
Political analyst Takayoshi Miyagawa said the silence is an extension of a customary practice. "For as long as I know, back to prewar time, accurate information about the prime minister's illnesses have not been made public," he said. "But hospitalizations have been announced promptly. This is the first time a hospitalization has been hidden."
The nation faces new elections sometime before Oct. 19, when Parliament's term expires, and members of the opposition Democratic and Social Democratic Parties called for a dissolution of Parliament and early elections.
Laws on succession are not clear in Japan, but it is assumed that for Mori to become prime minister, Aoki would ask the Cabinet to resign en masse. Then the ruling party would be free to name Mori as its new leader, and hence the nation's prime minister.