Nearly 20 months since the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi began, popular support for the Cabinet hovers around 50 to 60 percent, down from the extraordinarily high levels of 70 to 80 percent last year.
As the end of the year approaches, the domestic and international situation surrounding the Koizumi administration is becoming increasingly severe. Signs of instability and fluidity are starting to show in politics, foreign policy and the economy. In economic management especially, as the state of stagnation and deflation worsens, the prime minister's one-track policy of giving priority to structural reform is gradually reaching the stage at which amendments and compromises must be considered.
A good example is the shameful inability of the government's committee for promoting the privatization of four highway-related public corporations -- which, along with privatization of the postal service, is the centerpiece of the Koizumi administration -- to put together a unified final report due to internal discord.