Japan and the rest of the world have seen two Japanese prime ministers in a row suddenly throw in the towel without giving convincing reasons for doing so. Mr. Shinzo Abe announced his resignation Sept. 12, 2007, and Mr. Yasuo Fukuda on Sept. 1. The manner in which the two prime ministers decided to step down after less than a year in power was most unusual and irresponsible.
It is unavoidable for people to get the impression that politicians these days make light of the duties and position of prime minister and to develop a distrust of politics in general.
Despite differences in their political ideology and orientation, both Mr. Abe and Mr. Fukuda had one thing in common: Both lacked a mandate based on victories in general elections. They had merely inherited the big victory from former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the September 2005 general elections, fought on the single issue of privatizing the nation's postal service. This win enabled the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito to hold a two-thirds majority in the Lower House. In the case of Mr. Abe, he did not immediately resign, although the ruling coalition lost a majority in the Upper House in a July 2007 election.