Tokyo election will help restart

February 10, 2014

INSIGHT: Tokyo vote emboldens moves for reactor restarts

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201402100058 

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Yoichi Masuzoe’s landslide victory in the Feb. 9 election for Tokyo governor strengthened the hand of the Abe administration in its efforts to forge ahead with restarts of idled nuclear reactors.

The 65-year-old Masuzoe, a former welfare minister backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner New Komeito, garnered 2.11 million votes, more than the combined tally of the two anti-nuclear runners-up.

Kenji Utsunomiya, 67, former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, ended with 983,000 votes, while former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, 76, gained 956,000 votes. At 46.14 percent, voter turnout was the third lowest on record.

“It was good that a person facing in the same direction as the government was elected,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters when he visited Masuzoe’s office Feb. 9 to congratulate him on his win.

Takeo Kawamura, chief of the LDP’s election strategy committee, said that having an ally as head of the metropolitan government “will give the administration great leverage in advancing its policies.”

The Abe administration, which threw its full support behind Masuzoe, views his victory as a signal that the public approves of its policy to reactivate reactors this year once they are declared safe by nuclear regulators.

Seven utilities have applied for safety screenings to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for 16 reactors at nine nuclear plants as a condition for bringing them back online.

The nation’s 48 reactors are all shut down for safety checks following the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

The government is moving to have reactors restarted as early as summer, depending on the results of NRA safety screenings and support from local governments that host nuclear plants. In this regard, securing public sentiment is crucial.

Hosokawa was backed by popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has become a scathing critic of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-nuclear energy policy.

Government leaders were concerned that Koizumi would become more confrontational if Hosokawa won or even made an impressing showing.

“If Hosokawa and Utsunomiya together receive more votes than Masuzoe, it could send a message that Tokyo residents support their call for zero nuclear plants,” education minister Hakubun Shimomura, a close ally of Abe, said Feb. 6.

Abe campaigned for Masuzoe in Tokyo’s Ginza district Feb. 2, along with New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi.

Many government officials believe that Hosokawa’s crushing defeat will undermine moves seeking nuclear phase-out.

“Koizumi will not be able to pick himself up again,” a veteran LDP lawmaker said. “The government will proceed with reactor restarts as if nothing had happened.”

Koizumi, who was in power between 2001 and 2006 and groomed Abe under his wing, took up the anti-nuclear cudgels last year and has repeatedly called on the prime minister to immediately abolish nuclear energy.

Media reports in early January that Hosokawa may run with backing from Koizumi gave the government a fright. It feared that the nuclear energy issue could dominate the campaign agenda.

Government officials were also concerned that the election outcome could shake up the LDP as some lawmakers are sympathetic to calls to move away from nuclear energy.

Abe fired a warning shot against a campaign preoccupied with nuclear energy during his African tour Jan. 12, saying pressing issues need to be discussed in a balanced manner.

He cited accepting more children in day care, preparing to host Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and improving preparedness against a mega-earthquake as examples.

In mid-January, the government postponed Cabinet approval of a basic energy policy, which features continued use of nuclear energy, to minimize the impact on the election.

The government and the ruling coalition changed tack and went all out to back Masuzoe after opinion polls showed he was the front-runner. Previously, the campaigning was led by the LDP’s Tokyo chapter.

LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba, for example, demanded party lawmakers each submit a list of 100 supporters in Tokyo for canvassing for votes.