Another - Election for Japan
When Mr. Shigeru Yoshida's Liberal Government fell on Saturday it was less a triumph for the Opposition of Socialists and Conservatives than for his enemies within' the Liberal party itself. Their crafty manoeuvres have been highly successful. It may be recalled that it was because of the dissension between Mr. Yoshida and his supporters on the one hand and Mr. Ichiro Hatoyama and his on the other that Mr. Yoshida last August dissolved the House of Representatives and went to the country. The Liberal party's victory was decisive enough thanks to the divided nature of the Opposition, but Mr. Yoshida's personal position remained exceedingly uncertain because at least seventy of the Liberals returned were followers of his rival for office, Mr. Hatoyama. After that election the factions came to a working agreement and Mr. Yoshida was Prime Minister again; but before long the hurriedly sealed cracks began to open, and the Prime Minister's stand, between his own splintering party and the hostile Opposition, became daily more awkward. In the end Mr. Yoshida gave his enemies the opportunity they were ready for : he spoke in intemperate terms of a Parliamentary critic and following the reference of this incident to a Parliamentary disciplinary com- mittee (questions of discourtesy are taken more seriously in Japan than here), the Opposition tabled a motion of " no confidence." Twenty-two members of his own party withdrew their support at the right moment and so Mr. Yoshida fell. Perhaps his enemies had assumed that he would simply stand aside and allow Mr. Hatoyama to form a Government with himself at its head. If so, they were mistaken. Mr. Yoshida is going to fight. But it is very doubtful whether the result will resemble that of last October. As Japan's economic difficulties grow more serious, so does political opinion divide itself more definitely between left and right. This conflict of personalities between the two Liberal leaders will help to ha ten the process.
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