By Russell Skelton
In the aftermath of the biggest catastrophe to hit post-war Japan, it appears bizarre, even reckless, that the long-suffering Japanese are about to be saddled with yet another prime minister.
Naoto Kan agreed to stand down this month after just 12 months in the job. It is not that Kan had done anything especially disastrous, but promising to go was the only way he could void a humiliating no-confidence vote.
Within the ranks of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, Kan was seen as fumbling, uninspiring and distant. He appeared to procrastinate on key decisions, was slow to console traumatised communities and palmed off significant announcements to others. It is reported that his deep suspicion of bureaucratic advice prevented him from acting decisively when Fukushima's nuclear reactors blew up.
Revolving-door leadership has been a ludicrous if widely tolerated feature of modern Japan. Kan is the 16th prime minister since 1989, when the Heisei period of Emperor Akihito began. Few have lasted long enough to distinguish themselves. Kan lasted three months longer than his opaque predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama.
Once it seemed barely relevant who was prime minister, given the collusive oligarchy of big business and powerful bureaucrats that managed Japan Inc. But since the March 11 earthquake, Japan's social and political landscape has radically shifted, with people wanting action rather than platitudes.
Dysfunction surrounding the leadership could not come at a worse time. Internationally, Japan's role in the region and the global economy has seldom been more strategically crucial, given the emergence of a more muscular and assertive China. Domestically, the political dysfunction is threatening national resolve and impeding the path to recovery.
Three months after the largest earthquake in the country's history, only 22 per cent of the debris from the tsunami has been removed and 90,000 people live in makeshift housing. Toxic radiation continues to leak from the Fukushima nuclear plant. The economy, still the world's third largest, has contracted, threatening the fragile global recovery.
When Japan urgently needs determined and focused leadership, nobody has a clue who the next prime minister will be. The Democratic Party of Japan is wilfully plunging the country into unknown waters without thinking through the consequences.
Yoshinobu Konno, a 77-year-old retiree living in temporary accommodation after being evacuated from his home next to the Fukushima reactor, summed up the feelings of the nation when he told The Age: ''It is outrageous that the Prime Minister is being forced to resign. He is not popular, but who is?''
The troubling downside to Kan's departure is that it will hamper the recovery by generating policy incoherence and confusion. Responsibility for the clean-up has been left to local mayors and councils who must now deal with a fresh bunch of ministers, unacquainted with the portfolios and Kan's commitments.
His departure will do nothing to improve accountability and transparency. The compromised relationships between politicians, businesses and utilities such as Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) created a situation where negligent planning and threadbare safety standards were tolerated. Tepco faces billions of dollars in compensation payouts because the Fukushima plant had no contingency plans for a nuclear accident.
Australia has done much to assist with the recovery, by providing emergency workers, defence aircraft, technical advice and other aid. Prime Minister Julia Gillard's visit to the tsunami-wrecked city of Minami Sanriku, the first by an international leader, is well remembered and appreciated. Australia's influence has seldom been higher, an important factor in concluding a free trade agreement.
Murray McLean, Australia's outgoing ambassador to Japan and our most experienced diplomat in North Asia, is well acquainted with the cultural complexities and the potential for policy drift. However, he is optimistic about Japan's ability to recover and believes the mood for change remains undiminished.
Nonetheless, a vast gulf now exists between Japan's political class and people's expectations. The earthquake, like calamities past, appears to have produced a fundamental shift, with people demanding more responsive, less secretive government.
Public impatience - in many cases it is pure fury - is evident in the spike in protests over bureaucratic dithering on a range of issues, including radiation safety levels for children, temporary housing and just compensation for livelihoods lost.
Whether this mood forces a general reawakening remains to be seen, but there are grounds for hope. As if sensing the mounting alienation, the idea was recently floated that, following Kan, the Democratic Party of Japan may form a government of national unity to restore confidence, focus resolve and lay the foundations for an economic resurgence. That would be a positive development - even if only temporary.
It cannot be in the interests of Japan, let alone Australia, the US or the region, that the leadership vacuum and intrinsic political dysfunction be allowed to continue.
Russell Skelton is contributing editor and former Japan correspondent for The Age.
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