Twists and turns in Diet not serving anyone

There is a fable in which the head and the tail of a snake always fight. The tail, which must follow the head wherever it goes, is disgruntled. It appeals to heaven that it is not the head's servant and asks to take the lead from time to time.

The wish is granted but as it moves, the snake hits trees, men, stones and bricks and eventually leads itself toward the Styx. The way the head and the tail vie with each other and make the snake stray overlaps with the "twisted Diet" in which the two houses are respectively controlled by ruling and opposition parties.

Right now, they are at odds over the appointment of a new governor for the Bank of Japan. The Bank of Japan controls currency. Also dubbed the "watchdog of prices," it plays a vital role in stabilizing everyday life by adjusting interest rates. The governor serves as the command post independent of politics and internationally acts as the "face" of Japanese monetary policy.

The government proposed the appointment of Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto to head the central bank. But Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), which holds the majority in the Upper House, is set to firmly oppose the proposal. If the appointment falls apart, the central bank would be left without a governor, a most unusual situation. If that happens, the market would be disturbed and stock prices could plunge, according to experts. Although I know next to nothing about the economy, having heard that, even I can understand the weight the job carries.

While saying the absence of BOJ governor cannot be tolerated, the Liberal Democratic Party went ahead and railroaded the budget and other bills through the Lower House. By doing so, it deliberately poured oil on the fire of opposition spearheaded by Minshuto. The public can be likened to the body of a snake. These days, there is too much political strife between the head and the tail that is difficult for the body to follow.

The story about the head and the tail of a snake appears in "Fables" by the French fabulist Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695), a Japanese translation of which is published by Iwanami Shoten. The short story ends with the following moral: "And to the same unlovely home/ Some states by such an error come." I want the "twist"in the Diet to be a fruitful one that does not throw the public into a cold river.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 11(IHT/Asahi: March 12,2008)