Staff writer OSAKA -- Fusae Ota's election win here Sunday night is good news for local residents and the nation as a whole, in the sense that Osaka has elected the nation's first female governor. It is also good news for Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, because since a win for Ota, a former bureaucrat his Liberal Democratic Party and two coalition allies jointly supported, can be taken as an endorsement for the coalition government. For Ota, however, the win is merely the beginning of a long and arduous journey. The new governor faces daunting tasks, the biggest among them being the replenishment of the prefecture's empty fiscal coffers. With an accumulated debt of 3.8 trillion yen, Osaka's fiscal situation is the worst of all 47 prefectures. Thus, from an Osaka resident's point of view, the difference between the three major candidates was not what they promised to do, but how and to what extent they said they would do it. The people made a realistic choice in Ota, expecting the former trade bureaucrat to bring in sorely needed funds from the central government. In fact, her strong government link was one of the points voters found most appealing, aside from the coordinated backing she received from most political parties and major economic and labor organizations. Now that she has been elected, the Hiroshima Prefecture native no longer needs to spend her energy campaigning to associate herself with an unfamiliar city. Now is the time for her to concentrate on what she has to do. She should be assessed by her work. Few people doubt Ota's administrative abilities, but the question now is to what extent she can have a free hand in carrying out necessary policies. On the political side, Ota has the support of both the ruling parties and the Democratic Party of Japan. On the business and labor fronts, the Kansai Economic Federation (Kankeiren) and Rengo Osaka, the local chapter of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) have all thrown their support behind her. It remains to be seen how she will deal with the conflicting interests of these political parties and organizations. On the local level, Ota will also have to deal with the LDP's Osaka chapter, the largest force in the prefectural assembly with 43 out of 112 seats. The chapter broke with LDP headquarters to field Tatsuto Hiraoka. However, a campaign official for Ota was rather optimistic, saying "they (LDP Osaka members) are quick to follow reality." During her campaign, Ota promised to restore the prefecture's financial health by fixing the ailing economy so tax revenues will rise. She also pledged to create 60,000 jobs in such areas as nursing care, housing and the environment. In total, she listed 71 policy promises in her "Osaka Shikkari" ("Firm up Osaka") plan. Her promises sound fine to people's ears. But if she were to achieve all those goals, the prefectural government could become as big as the central government both in size and budget. While she pledged to promote decentralization, she also promised to streamline the prefectural government. Sooner or later, Ota will no longer be able to show a nice face to everyone, and she will eventually have to make the choices and unpleasant decisions that a politician must make. That is when her ability as a governor will really be tested.
