In Wake of Major Victory, Nakasone May Have Tenure Extended by Rules Change

Basking in a historic election victory that brought him new power at home but may invite new demands on Japan from abroad, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone reiterated Monday that he will comply with a party regulation that would force him to step down in October.

However, Shin Kanemaru, secretary general of the victorious Liberal Democrats, hinted that a change in the rules might be possible to extend Nakasone’s tenure as party president when his term expires Oct. 30.

The 68-year-old prime minister said in a televised news conference that he is not thinking of asking for a change in the party rule, which now limits the president to two terms.

He also ruled out the idea of splitting between two leaders the posts of party president and prime minister, a job which he theoretically could hold for four more years or until the lower house of Parliament is next dissolved.

‘New Generation’ of Leaders

Nakasone also talked about an approach of a “new generation” of leaders and said he wants to use “the time left to me efficiently.”

In particular, he said he wants to use the Liberal Democrats’ new 48-seat majority in the lower house of Parliament--the biggest the politically conservative party has won in any election since 1969--to enact eight bills to break up and privatize the government-run Japan National Railways.

The influential Kanemaru, however, dropped his first public hint that he might support an extension of Nakasone’s time in office, if not a full, third two-year term.

“If two-thirds of the party’s members of Parliament, because of this election result, decide that Nakasone’s term should be extended by a year or so, that’s what would happen. If a consensus can be reached about changing the party rule, I would be happy,” he added.

Before the election, Kanemaru, whose son is married to Finance Minister Noboru Takeshita’s daughter, had told Takeshita and the other two leaders who aspire to succeed Nakasone that “there will be no third term” for Nakasone.

Party Leader to Step Down

Kanemaru, 71, also said he intends to resign as secretary general of the party to clear a path for a “younger generation” to take over party leadership.

Takeshita himself said that extending the length of Nakasone’s present term is “possible.”

Final results of Sunday’s election gave the Liberal Democrats 304 seats, or 59.4% of the 512 seats in the lower house. The party had had a higher percentage of lower house seats when there were fewer seats in the chamber, but the Sunday results were its best showing since 1969. Numerically, the 304 seats were the most the party has won since it was formed in 1955.

Going into the election, the Liberal Democrats were seven seats short of a majority and ruled only through a “mini-coalition” with a conservative splinter group, the New Liberal Club.

In balloting for the upper house, in which half the members face reelection every three years, the Liberal Democrats won 74 of the 126 seats at stake. Combined with the 69 incumbents whose terms will not expire until l989, they wound up with 143 seats, a majority of 17, six more than after the last election in June, 1983.

Personal Triumph

The double victory was an overwhelming personal triumph for Nakasone, who was vilified as a “puppet” of the party’s king-maker, former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, when he took office in November, 1982, and humiliated when he led the party to its worst-ever lower house setback in 1983. That poor showing came after Tanaka was convicted of accepting a $1.8-million bribe from the Lockheed Aircraft Corp. during his l972-74 term in office.

Opposition parties and even members of two of the factions of the ruling party called Nakasone a “liar” for denying his pre-election intentions to dissolve the lower house, focusing their campaigns entirely on what they called his “high-handed tactics.”

The results immediately silenced criticism of Nakasone in the ruling party. Opposition leaders, like Masashi Ishibashi, chairman of the Socialists, declared only that voters had produced “a fearful outcome.”

Undisputed Leadership

The victory gave Nakasone undisputed political leadership, at least for the remainder of his term. It also guarantees him a major voice in selecting his own successor when he does step down.

Tanaka, although reelected again as an unaffiliated candidate, has not been seen in public since he suffered a stroke Feb. 27, 1985, and no longer exercises any personal influence, although his faction remains the party’s biggest.

The outcome was expected to free Nakasone to decide soon on Japan’s participation in the research and development of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative program, the so-called “Stars Wars” space-based missile defense system.

Japanese analysts predicted that it also might precipitate tougher trade demands from the United States, now that the government can no longer argue that it lacks the political support to push through unpopular measures at home.

Yen Soars in Trading

As if in expectation of renewed U.S. calls for an even stronger yen, trading on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market closed Monday at a record high of 159.25 yen to the dollar. In morning trading before heavy intervention by the Bank of Japan, the yen also set a new momentary high of 158.90 to the dollar.

Both marks, representing a 52% appreciation of the yen since last Sept. 22, eclipsed records set May 12.

In his news conference, Nakasone volunteered to play a more active role on one issue of interest to the United States: the accumulated debts of developing countries. He did not go into detail, however. He also renewed his pledge to carry out reforms of Japan’s export-oriented economy, a plan strongly supported by Reagan.

Rivals Claim Credit

Nakasone’s rivals--Takeshita, 62, Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe, 62, and ruling party Executive Board Chairman Kiichi Miyazawa, 66--all claimed partial credit for the victory. All three leaders had campaigned heavily on behalf of politicians who pledged to join their factions within the ruling party, thus helping increase the voter turnout, they said.

The number of upper and lower house members who pledged loyalty--and their votes in electing a party president to become prime minister--to the Tanaka faction, of which Takeshita is a leading member, expanded by 20 to 140.

The faction to which Miyazawa belongs now embraces 86 members; there are 82 in the group backing Abe; and Nakasone’s faction, with 75 members, still trails the others, although it scored the second largest gains.

Nakasone is expected to call Parliament into special session July 21 or 22 to win designation as prime minister.