Word: hata
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...Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata named a Cabinet but acknowledged as he did so that solving such vexing problems as tax reform and trade hassles with Washington would not be easy for a government built on a minority coalition. As one Democratic Socialist legislator put it, "It can't get any worse than this...
...spotlight was on Japanese Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata amid speculation that he would inherit the post vacated by former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, who resigned two weeks ago. Like Hosokawa, Hata has been an outspoken critic of Japan's scandal-plagued political system; he also faces the challenge of holding together the fragile seven-party coalition that brought Hosokawa to power. Parliament is expected to vote on a new Prime Minister this week...
...weeks ago, when it became apparent that last-ditch trade talks in Washington were breaking down, Hosokawa quietly dispatched a high-level envoy to head off a conflict. When that failed, he sent an even higher intermediary, Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata. But a Thursday breakfast meeting between Hata and U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor was ended abruptly by Kantor, who complained that Hata had brought nothing new. After Hosokawa arrived later that day, Hata asked for one last, late-night session. But after three more hours of talks that broke up at 4 a.m., there was still no progress...
That won't be easy. To win power, Hata's party will have to form a coalition to win a majority in what will be a 511-seat lower house. While several opposition groups, all grasping at the chance to pull down the L.D.P., are promising to support Hata, it will be extremely difficult to reconcile differences. The largest of the parties, the Social Democrats, has tried to ease the way by announcing that it will not argue with traditional L.D.P. economic and foreign policies, but at least in theory it still opposes nuclear power, the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty...
Ozawa and Hata's best prospect, however, may be to bring over more supporters from the L.D.P., where there is still considerable unhappiness with Miyazawa, 73, and worry about the voters' wrath on the reform issue. Former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu announced a 105-member group of L.D.P. legislators who favor reforms. If the Hata group does well, they may just defect...