SNA (Tokyo) — In 1898 Hirobumi Ito returned for a third term as prime minister of Japan, but this time his political magic proved insufficient. The Genro and the elected political parties were heading for a confrontation, and Ito proved unable to reconcile them.

Transcript

On January 12, 1898, Hirobumi Ito launched a third term as prime minister of Japan.

Unlike his previous stints in office, this time Ito was unable to stabilize his administration.

The prime minister wanted to come to an accord with the two opposition parties, the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party, but he soon found that the prices they were asking to form a coalition were higher than he—and especially the other Genro—would be willing to accept.

Nevertheless, the March 1898 elections confirmed the electoral strength of the opposition parties, and they refused to pass the Land Tax and other government measures.

Thus, on June 10, Ito dissolved the Diet again, heading for a second general election in 1898.

The two large opposition parties then stunned the Genro by merging into a huge unified political party called the Constitutional Party, increasing their leverage even further.

Opposition to hiking the Land Tax had given them a common cause.

Ito tried again to convince his Genro colleagues that this was the time to create a pro-government party, backed by the financing of big business, that could become their ally in the Imperial Diet and help them pass their budgets.

But again, the other Genro, especially Aritomo Yamagata, were steadfastly opposed to Ito’s ideas, seeing them as a betrayal of the principle of transcendental governments, which served only the nation as a whole and not partisan interests.

Ito suggested to his colleagues that he would resign, but none of the other Genro were themselves willing to form a Cabinet in the face of the united opposition in the Imperial Diet.

Ito then responded by resigning on June 30, 1898, after only 170 days in office, and making the stunning recommendation to the Emperor that the leaders of Constitutional Party, Shigenobu Okuma and Taisuke Itagaki, form the next government.

Hirobumi Ito will return.

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