Word: premier
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Carlos' public pronouncements have been few and bland. Nonetheless, there are encouraging signs that the King may be a good deal less cautious than either Fraga or Arias, a timid holdover from Franco's days who is probably too venerable and rigid to be the kind of Premier that Juan Carlos needs at such a critical time. The King apparently recognizes that if Spain swings too far left too swiftly, there would be no returning, but in no sense is he acting as a brake on change in Spanish life. On the contrary, he evinces a certain impatience...
...Premier Takeo Miki is regarded in Japan as a mild-mannered and even distressingly passive leader. Last week, however, he displayed a streak of combativeness worthy of a samurai. Facing a concerted effort by bosses of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to force his early resignation, Miki defiantly announced during a televised press conference that he would refuse to step down prematurely. He also abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting with Party Vice President and Elder Statesman Etsusaburo Shiina, 78, that was widely expected to be the showdown between the Premier and his foes...
...elections that must be held before the end of the year. There are, however, some difficult complications that have enhanced Miki's staying power. The ever growing Lockheed scandal, with its implications of bribetaking in high places, has convinced some L.D.P. bigwigs they should move cautiously against the Premier...
...Clean. Miki has been criticized within the party for proceeding too slowly, and independently, in investigating Lockheed-related wrongdoing. Miki's supporters counter that the real worry of many in the L.D.P. is that the Premier's careful investigation will badly tarnish the reputations of some important party figures. Party Vice President Shiina is well aware that in the public mind, efforts to dump Miki are seen as part of a Lockheed cover-up by a party that only two years ago was jolted by the worst scandal in its history-the resignation of Miki's predecessor...
Despite Miki's image as an honest political maverick, most Japanese cynically believe the question of his tenure as Premier will eventually be decided in the usual L.D.P. manner-by a backroom bargain. In large measure, this is because the party is a diverse umbrella organization including everything from right-wing nationalists to non-Marxist leftists; among its 274 members in the Diet are businessmen dabbling in politics, full-time politicians, a sprinkling of former civil servants and even entertainers. The L.D.P. has roughly half a dozen major factions, and like feudal fiefdoms of old, they are constantly forming...