LONDON -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is reported to have said that the only change he wants to make in the Japanese Constitution is to insert an article providing that the Japanese prime minister be elected by the people of Japan rather than by the Diet. In this he is endorsing a proposal originally made decades ago by former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. If Japan adopts this proposal, it will make its prime minister a presidential figure and alter some of the most fundamental aspects of Japanese parliamentary democracy.

The main arguments for direct election of the prime minister lie in recent history. A majority of incumbents over the last few years have been selected because they managed to gain the support of the more important factions in the Liberal Democratic Party. Some gained the post, not because of their perceived ability, but because they had fewer party enemies than others and were able to call on significant financial backing for the LDP. They were often selected by a self-appointed group of party bosses. This was the case with the appointment of the hapless former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who was chosen by a hastily summoned cabal of a few key LDP members.

The case for greater transparency in the selection process and for some attempt to justify the selection in terms of ability and experience is incontrovertible, but this does not necessarily mean that the prime minister should be elected by popular vote. In fact, the LDP chose Koizumi because he was different from the usual run of party bosses, because he won the backing of the provincial sections of the party and, probably most important, because party members realized that if they did not make a radical change they would be sure to lose heavily in the forthcoming Upper House election.