Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy speech to the Diet on Monday could not have come at a worse time. The week before, he had invited public anger by firing Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, the most popular member of his Cabinet and the staunchest supporter of his reform plans. It was an "agonizing decision," as he put it, that risked sending his own popularity into a tailspin.
In fact, his approval ratings have already sharply dropped in the latest media polls. Suddenly Mr. Koizumi is in a box. After all, public support is his best weapon against the opponents of his reforms. But he referred only briefly to Tanaka's dismissal and failed to give convincing reasons for that summary action. Instead, he acted as if the whole episode was a tempest in a teapot.
The timing was bad. Still, the prime minister could have halted, or at least slowed, the public's alienation had he spelled out a more credible reform agenda. The speech was lackluster for a leader who stakes his political fortune on reform in the midst of adversity. It did not convey much of a sense of crisis or urgency, despite his pledge to "advance reform with firm resolve."