"Bull" Survives

Near divorce in the Diet

"I feel as if I have finally managed to I get out of hot water, but I must expect to dip into even hotter water." So said Premier Masayoshi Ohira last week, after he narrowly won a bruising struggle in the Diet to hang on as leader of Japan's majority government. "The Bull," as Ohira is known, might be feeling plenty of new heat soon. Though he fended off a strong challenge from his archrival, former Premier Takeo Fukuda, he now finds himself at the top of not only a shaky regime but also a divided party.

Ohira's troubles began with Japan's Oct. 7 election. Over the objections of other members of his Liberal Democratic Party (L.D.P.), he had called the vote eleven months earlier than he had to in hopes of increasing his strength in the Diet's 511-member lower house. But some frank talk by Ohira about higher taxes frightened voters, and the party's representation in the Diet slipped by one seat to 248.

Former Premier Takeo Miki demanded that Ohira step down as Premier and party leader, and his call was soon echoed by Fukuda, whom Ohira had ousted as Premier last December. But the Bull refused to quit, thus triggering a fierce party struggle. At first, says one L.D.P. Diet member, "we thought that it was like any fight between father and mother. It would get serious, but in the end there would be no divorce." Yet as the days went by, all attempts at compromise proved fruitless.

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--not because of the election, but because he made our party look so damn foolish."

Ohira named a Cabinet that reflected the deep schisms within the party. Though none of the faction chiefs personally accepted positions, Ohira was forced to pass over many of his closest allies in handing out the portfolios; 15 of his 20 ministers are in their first Cabinet jobs. He has also agreed to give some key party positions, including the post of secretary-general, to members of rival factions. Despite these fence-mending efforts, the party's wounds are far from healed. Vowed Fukuda: "The first round is over, but the second has just begun."

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