'Yoshida Must Go!'
NAOI, TAKEO
By Takeo Naoi 'YOSHIDA MUST GO!' Even his own party is voicing demands for the ouster of Japan's Prime Minister Tokyo On June 3, the night before Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was to start on...
...Yoshida's supporters habitually railroaded bills through the Diet without thorough debate...
...Because of his identification with anti-Communism, Yoshida's isolation from the people narrows the ground on which to stand against Communism and thus weakens the free world...
...At the end of April, Yoshida faced a non-confidence motion submitted by the Socialists and beat it, 228 to 208...
...They were joined by their Upper House colleagues, with their staffs, who linked arms, guarded all doors and picketed the area...
...During the 150-day session, he appeared in the Diet on about 30 days...
...Fortunately, the Japanese people have a strong measure of common sense...
...the Diet incident again indicates the immaturity of the Socialists...
...Only a popular democratic leader can cope with a movement like Communism, which attempts to captivate great masses...
...Yoshida's Government had been trying to get through a bill restoring centralized control of police forces...
...Even in Yoshida's own camp, "he must go" sentiment has been apparent...
...Yoshida is decidedly not such a leader...
...If they cannot obtain their aims democratically, they do not hesitate to use force...
...In some foreign capitals, this was regarded as a victory...
...By Takeo Naoi 'YOSHIDA MUST GO!' Even his own party is voicing demands for the ouster of Japan's Prime Minister Tokyo On June 3, the night before Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was to start on his world good-will tour, a riot broke out in the Japanese Diet, paralyzing all parliamentary activity...
...It was understandable that the Opposition should be irritated with the Government party's abuse of power...
...But I have not...
...The Socialist opposition was filibustering against it...
...His proposed world tour was widely publicized in the press both here and abroad...
...that is not the case...
...A. "Undecided means undecided...
...On June 1, just three days before he was to depart, Yoshida had the following dialogue with a Socialist deputy: Q. "Did you take into account the problem of the H-bomb in your plans for the trip...
...Since the scandals in the Government were exposed, there has been a strong movement for a new conservative party...
...In the heat of the discussions on Government scandals, he was absent week after week...
...Speaker Tsutsumi called for the police, and nearly a hundred guards and some 200 policemen finally freed the Speaker from the mob of Socialists...
...Ambassador John Allison and Yoshida's advisers had already left Japan to prepare his way: yet, the Prime Minister did not say a word in public about the trip...
...The results of the riot: The Diet session was extended (for the fifth time since March), and Yoshida's trip was postponed indefinitely...
...Nor can one discount the role played by the arrogant Prime Minister...
...It is sensible for the average Japanese to prefer a healthy conservative government until the Socialist Opposition becomes more mature and reasonable...
...But it is also sensible for the man in the street to feel that Yoshida must go...
...It is fair to say that Yoshida had driven his conservative allies into opposition...
...Q. "But your Cabinet secretary says you are going abroad...
...In the same vein, the Prime Minister had described his proposed Defense Force as "an army without war potential" and a tank as a "special wagon...
...When the fracas was over, left-wing Socialist leader Suzuki declared that there was no other way for a minority to fight "fascism...
...Almost-all the district Liberal-party caucuses have voted for a new conservative party "without Yoshida...
...The Socialist motion was supported by many Progressives, although a part of the party abstained...
...A. "ft is not yet decided whether or not I go abroad...
...As it turned out, only the abstentions managed to pull Yoshida through by 20 votes...
...Public opinion, while blaming the Government for having called in the police, was also critical of the Socialists for using violence to obstruct Diet proceedings...
...Public reaction to the recent events confirms that they know whom to blame for the Diet disturbances...
...The chief secretaries of the three conservative parties (Liberals, splinter Liberals and Progressives) have held several conferences, in which anti-Yoshida feeling predominated...
...When Government members of the Lower House steering committee attempted to extend the Diet session two days, the Socialists held House Speaker Tsutsumi incommunicado in the steering-committee room to prevent him from reaching the plenary session slated to approve the extension...
...A. "He might have said so...
...On the other hand, the Socialists here, right-wingers included, still regard parliamentary institutions as merely a means toward power...
...Q. "It is reported that your reception parties are prepared in the United States, and you say 'undecided.' You are fooling the nation...
...Thus, the Socialists, too, play into Communist hands by discrediting democracy...
Vol. 37 • June 1954 • No. 26
