LONDON -- Voter disillusionment with Junichiro Koizumi's performance as prime minister has grown from an apparent lack of progress in clearing up bad bank loans, his inability to force through privatization of public corporations, limited action on deregulation and his failure to reform the Liberal Democratic Party.
Even his pledge to cap bond issues for the year are seen, in the light of two supplementary budgets, as little more than a slogan. His unwise visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which predictably upset the Chinese and Koreans, caused further disappointment. Abroad the visit was seen as a sign of Koizumi's weakness and his need to pander to out-of-date nationalist forces in the LDP. Are observers correct in concluding that Koizumi's term will end soon?
Government spokesmen argue that Koizumi's achievements have not been properly appreciated. He has, they point out, made changes in forcing patients to pay more for medical treatment. Changes were made in defense legislation enabling Japan to give more help to the Americans in the fight against terrorism. Still, it is difficult to deny that few fundamental reforms have been made, and it may be argued that his spokesmen are trying to "make bricks without straw."