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Vajpayee heads Asiaweek's 'Dream Cabinet'

As the prime minister gets ready for what is a crucial knee surgery, Asiaweek has nominated him as the head of its 'Dream Cabinet'.

Expressing a sentiment that most Indians would agree with -- 'Anyone who leads India could lead the World' -- the magazine goes on to explain what are the qualifications that the magazine looked for in his choice of the continent's men of destiny. 'They must all be people who, over an extended period, have performed, and performed consistently, often in trying circumstances,' it says. Apart from which, 'They must all be exemplars of today's revolutionary new world -- in how they view technology and business, yes, but also how they see the future of society and politics.'

India comes for some left-handed compliment as the article goes on to say: 'The mere thought of trying to govern India is enough to induce terrifying nightmares... It has half a dozen insurgency movements and antagonistic -- if not openly aggressive -- neighbors. As well, its population has just passed the one-billion mark.' Despite these handicaps, what motivated Asiaweek to nominate Vajpayee was that the 'serene and honest (so far as we can tell) Vajpayee has run this behemoth with extraordinary restraint and astuteness'.

China-rooters may not be entirely pleased with that assessment -- especially this: 'it is now India rather than China that is bursting onto the world's stage as the powerhouse to watch' -- and perhaps sensing a need to explain the factors that made them plump for Vajpayee, the editors say India is a flourishing democracy and has been one for more than 50 years while China has to mount that tiger.

'With Vajpayee in the saddle,' says Asiaweek, 'the nation has rarely looked stronger and more resolute.' The prime minister also continues to encourage India's geeks, who are 'fanning out like worker bees, to take the world by storm'.

In short, Vajpayee 'covers all bases'.

As Vajpayee's deputy the magazine has chosen Zhu Rongji, premier of the state council of China whose record and his 'ongoing commitment to reform China's monolithic economy is alone enough to justify his inclusion. Add his sheer political moxie and PR skills and he shows himself to be the perfect partner for Vajpayee', the duo forming what Asiaweek calls 'an exquisite yin-and-yang power-complementary duo from Asia's two largest nations -- and that would augur well for the cabinet's stability'.

The magazine glosses over Zhu's autocratic and tough talk on Taiwan which backfired, saying 'it was necessary for domestic reasons and every savvy minister who wants to survive knows that kind of thing is required once in a while'. Despite this minor contretemps, in the context of China, says Asiaweek, 'Zhu is his still-evolving country's most openly forthright, articulate and accessible leader.'

Manning trade and industry is Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing who Indians know better as the father of the man who started Star TV, while Chairman-designate of Sony Corp Idei Nobuyuki, is the science and technology minister. The duo bring to the cabinet 'an inestimable fountain of knowledge and experience about today's fast-changing, high-tech business world, while Li is a super-sharp businessman uniquely positioned to forge lucrative trade ties globally,' says Asiaweek.

Malaysia's Man of Destiny Mahathir Mohamad is Vajpayee's interior minister, and would 'liaise well with Li and especially Idei (since the Japanese love him and he them).' In the course of steering his nation for over two decades, Mahathir has also been interior minister, 'so the portfolio suits him'. Disregarding criticism that Mahathir's dictatorial style and attitude toward dissent should keep him out of the cabinet, the magazine justified his choice by pointing to his repeated re-election as leader and his 'commitment to the IT revolution'.

The man responsible for the 'supreme defended' Singapore and a technocrat, Goh Chok Tong, has been chosen as Vajpayee's defence minister. Goh 'bestrides regional summits as the leader most likely to know the answers, give the most cogent speeches, have the best long-term strategies,' is how Asiaweek describes him.

Foreign affairs is in the hands of the president of the Republic of Korea, Kim Dae Jung, who, by setting up a meeting with his reclusive and dictatorial North Korean counterpart, 'has brokered Asia's most historic summit to date'. Apart from that, 'his initiatives in Indochina and enhanced rapport with Beijing and Tokyo, coupled with his pro-democracy credentials', make him a natural choice for the dream team's foreign ministry.

Others in the cabinet are Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai as justice minister, who finds a soulmate in East Timor's Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao who makes it as the health and education minister. After his long incarceration and resistance struggle, says Asiaweek, Gusmao looks 'as fit, wise and statesmanlike as Nelson Mandela did upon his release'.

The danger in pitting together such heavyweights is that the cabinet could easily fall into ego-clashing or inertia; if it doesn't, says the magazine, 'then a nation blessed with this cabinet might well emulate Japan's economic efficiency, embrace Singapore's clean and ordered society, and yet permit its citizens the joy-inspiring liberties of Thailand.'

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