Word: ohira
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...Ohira's blunder shattered the precarious coalition of personal allegiances that cemented the LDP. The party itself in not a unified party at all, but a composite of different factions, groups of Diet members who give loyalty first to one prominent leader, second...
Although in previous elctions faction leaders have made token statements of support for the party leader that cloak their own maneuverings for leverage, this time the top factions heads refused to support Ohira. Instead, they called for his resignation--he complied on November 9. During that week, as Ohira fought to regain power and form a government, the Japanese public got a fascinating glimpse of the depth and breadth of political divisions within the LDP and the potential obstructiveness of the system. As the faction leaders jousted, it became clear that behind their hatred lies an issue...
...Ohira's chief rivals fought to unseat him with a passion fueled by personal enmity and ideological distaste for his alliance with Kakuei Tanaka, the former prime minister unseated after the press revealed the Lockheed airplane company's extensive bribery of government officials to gain contracts. Ohira owes much of his factional strength to Tanaka, who threw his supporters behind Ohira after being indicted in 1973. The bribery charges prohibit Tanaka from playing an active role in the LDP, but he can still play kingmaker, at least until his trial...
Both former prime ministers Takeo Fukuda and Takeo Miki have vilified Tanaka and the money politics he stands for, and they have extended their hatred to Ohira. Fukuda and Miki blame the Ohira-Tanaka alliance for depriving them of the premiership on several occasions. Miki also campaigns on a clean government plank, and has urged reforming the system of election for party president to estinguish the potential for bribery that Tanaka exploited so successfully. Tanaka in turn despises Miki as the man who jailed him in 1974 and fought to prosecute all offenders in the Lockheed case...
THESE rivalries erupted in a spectacular display of pettiness, absurdity and irresponsibility during the party elections in the Diet to determine the new prime minister. At one point, the Fukuda camp set up a blockade to prevent Ohira supporters from entering the Diet. Burly Ohira guards smashed the barrier, screaming obscenities into whirring television cameras. Ohira himself blocked Diet votes on the premiership three times, holding out to retain his power while the Diet remained paralyzed. After futile attempts at compromise with Fukuda, Ohira retained his seat by a mere 17 votes in the first runoff premier election in Japan...