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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 002400 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2018 
TAGS: PGOV ECON JA
SUBJECT: FUKUDA RESIGNS, WITH CONSEQUENCES FOR OEF, DIET, 
ELECTION 
 
Classified By: CDA James P. Zumwalt, reasons 1.4(b),(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Prime Minister Fukuda surprised the nation 
on September 1 by unexpectedly announcing his intention to 
resign in a hastily-arranged, late-evening news conference. 
Ruling party executives have moved quickly to set in motion 
plans for a new LDP presidential election, likely in the 
September 21-22 timeframe and around the time the opposition 
DPJ is slated to announce its own new leadership slate at a 
party convention.  The LDP will delay the opening of the fall 
Diet session beyond its previously scheduled September 12 
start date to accommodate its election.  The new LDP 
President is expected to be elected Prime Minister at the 
opening of that session, given the LDP's numerical 
superiority in the Lower House.  At this point, the press has 
speculated that possible candidates in the LDP election are 
party Secretary General Taro Aso and former Defense Minister 
Yuriko Koike, among others.  Fukuda's resignation increases 
the likelihood of a general election before the end of this 
year, or early next year, and does not bode well for passing 
legislation to extend Japan's refueling efforts in support of 
Operation Enduring Freedom, Embassy contacts say.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Prime Minister Fukuda, in a move that newspaper 
accounts say surprised even his own wife, announced his 
resignation in a live news conference at 9:30 p.m. on 
September 1.  In his remarks to the press, Fukuda cited his 
inability to overcome the impasse in the Diet as his primary 
motive for resigning, and expressed hope that by resigning 
now, he could "avoid creating a political vacuum."  Press 
reports on September 2 also cited friction with junior 
coalition partner Komeito over Diet scheduling and key 
legislative initiatives, as well as an office expense scandal 
involving Agriculture Minister Seiichi Ota, as key factors 
that increased the pressure on Fukuda to resign at this time. 
 Leading opposition politicians quickly labeled Fukuda 
"irresponsible" for "abandoning" his duties, but ruling party 
officials have been quick to point out that it was opposition 
obstructionism that had prevented Fukuda from achieving his 
legislative objectives. 
 
¶3. (C) Embassy contacts have been fairly unanimous over the 
past month in predicting a Lower House election later in the 
year or early next year.  If anything, Fukuda's announcement 
makes this possible dissolution timetable even more likely, 
particularly since his successor will be the third prime 
minister to take office without an intervening general 
election.  (Note:  The last Lower House election was held in 
September 2005.  The term of the members elected in 2005 will 
expire in September 2009, unless the House is dissolved 
first.)  This combination of a delayed start to the fall Diet 
session and an early finish will greatly diminish the 
prospects during this session for passing the legislation 
needed to extend Japan's refueling activities in the Indian 
Ocean in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, as well as 
other Fukuda initiatives, according to Embassy contacts.  As 
one pessimistic contact bluntly put it, "the OEF refueling 
legislation is already in the trash can." 
 
¶4. (C) Already, news reports are noting that the impact of 
Fukuda's decision could extend to everything from a 
postponement of the Japan-China-ROK trilateral summit 
tentatively scheduled for September 21, to a backing away 
from commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a delay in 
progress with North Korea on the abductions issue.  Multiple 
press reports on September 2 quoted former U.S. officials 
expressing "shock" over Fukuda's sudden announcement and 
suggested a possible deleterious impact on the bilateral 
alliance.  The aftershocks could certainly ripple through the 
implementation of the Defense Policy Review Initiative (DPRI) 
and other bilateral security cooperative efforts.  Of 
immediate concern is the funding for the relocation of U.S. 
Marines to Guam and the upgrading of CH-47 helicopters to be 
used for international peace cooperation activities, both of 
which are included in the Japanese government's supplemental 
 
TOKYO 00002400  002 OF 002 
 
 
budget request to be submitted at the beginning of the fall 
Diet session. 
 
¶5. (C) Ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) executives 
gathered early on September 2 to discuss the procedures for 
electing a successor.  They are reportedly leaning toward a 
vote on September 21 or September 22, hoping to draw 
attention away from an opposition Democratic Party of Japan 
(DPJ) convention scheduled for that time.  One news account 
quoted Fukuda as saying that he had made up his mind to 
resign on August 29, but had chosen to wait until September 1 
to announce the decision in order to overshadow DPJ leader 
Ichiro Ozawa's official announcement that he will stand for 
re-election as DPJ President.  It is also noteworthy that the 
registration deadline for LDP candidates -- 12 days prior to 
an election -- will coincide roughly with the registration 
cut-off for the DPJ leadership election.  Ozawa is widely 
expected to run unopposed, with some Embassy DPJ contacts 
fearing that an uncontested election could damage party 
efforts to win support in the next general election. 
 
¶6. (C) LDP rules, which can be re-written on an ad hoc basis 
with the approval of its members, require presidential 
candidates to secure the support of 20 party members. Under 
the most recent version of the rules, a candidate must 
receive a majority of the votes, with one vote granted to 
each of the 387 LDP Diet members and another 300 votes 
granted to the 47 LDP prefectural chapters, some of which are 
allocated on a proportional basis and others decided on by 
local party executives.  The number of votes accorded to 
local LDP members could be significant.  At this point, the 
press has speculated that possible candidates in the LDP 
presidential election are party Secretary General Taro Aso 
and former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, among others. 
 
¶7. (C) Fukuda took office on September 15, 2007, shortly 
after the surprise resignation of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe. 
While the exact timing of Fukuda's resignation appears to 
have caught even party insiders by surprise, Embassy contacts 
concede that his move was not entirely unexpected.  After 
keeping Abe's last reshuffled Cabinet in place for nearly 
eight months, Fukuda finally succumbed to calls to appoint a 
new lineup on August 1, hoping to improve his popular appeal 
with voters.  The personnel changes did little to raise his 
cabinet support rate, however, which had fallen to just under 
20 percent in some polls in May before recovering slowly over 
the past several months to the 30 percent range.  His focus 
on "people oriented" policies, such as creation of a consumer 
affairs agency and an economic stimulus package, also did 
little to boost public support, with most polls indicating 
that he has consistently failed to convey his "message" to 
the public.  At the same time, he has received little credit 
domestically for his diplomatic efforts to improve relations 
with Asian neighbors or his successful hosting of the G-8. 
ZUMWALT