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Japan’s PM Taro Aso Dissolves Parliament
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by Yuliya Talmazan | July 12, 2009 at 08:07 pm
212 views | 18 Recommendations | 4 comments
Japan’s PM Taro Aso has decided to dissolve Japan's Parliament as early as next week and called for the general elections to be held on August 30, 2009. The announcement comes in the wake of Sunday's defeat of the ruling coalition of Japan's PM against the Democratic Party of Japan in the local Tokyo election. The defeat of Aso's Liberal Democratic Party has ended the party's dominance in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and jeopardized the party's chances in the general election originally set for the fall this year.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 20:45 on July 12th, 2009
Well, he is faced with less then 10% approval ratings, a minority Government that is almost hated by now and municipal elections in Tokyo that gave the opposition the lead by a land slide. And they won.
Further he should have done this month ago and called for election since his Government could no longer Govern with the opposition blocking next to every bill.
at 21:02 on July 12th, 2009
Very true, but still I wonder if anything will really change. Even though the Tokyo elections are somewhat indicative of the general opinion in Japan, it is important to remember that Japan has a strong imbalance between the voting power of rural and urban areas with rural areas tending to vote for the LDP.
Also what is gonna change if the DPJ wins the national elections? Most members are former LDP members with differences between the DPJ and LDP not being much more significant than differences within the fractionalized LDP itself.
I don't see much change happening in Japan irrespective of who will win the upcoming national elections.
at 07:34 on July 13th, 2009
With the system Japan has there will be new faces but major policies will change little.
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Laughing-Samurai (not verified)at 19:23 on July 13th, 2009
I think the loss of the Tokyo election by the LDP is actually a dissatisfaction with the Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, first elected in 1999, re-elected in 2003 and again in 2007. On a side note, the man is a racist and more near to the extreme right.
Key issues included the ailing lender Shinginko Tokyo, Ishihara's pet project that lost more than ¥100 billion in its first three years after opening in April 2005, and the plan to move the popular Tsukiji fish market from Chuo Ward to a highly toxic area in Koto Ward.
Furthermore, Ishihara is keen on Tokyo hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics and has set aside an enormous ¥400 billion to pay for it.
In my 15 years in Japan there have been 10 prime ministers. The only one who could be considered successful was Junichiro Koizumi who served the country from 2001 until 2006.
While the LDP lost 10 of it's seats in the 120 seat Tokyo Assembly, it's partner, the New Komeito Party retained all of it's 23 seats. The Komeito is backed by the very powerful Soka Gakkai Buddhist organisation. They will be out in full force during Aug campaigning.
There is a small chance that the the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan could win the general election. Except for the period 1993-96 the LDP have ruled Japan since 1956. The DPJ lack any kind of government experience.
When it comes to a general election the Japanese voters usually stick with the party they know, the LDP and the Komeito can carry up to 15 million votes, but we are in unsure times and maybe the voters feel like it's time for a radical change.
Except for Junichiro Koizumi all the prime ministers since 1993 have been weak both within their party and in their character. Politics in Japan is by consensus , but with the dark clouds of the financial crisis, the country needs a very strong prime minister who can give hope back to the people!
While the ruling LDP may lose the election, the Komeito Party will most likely retain at least 95% of it's seats and would probably form some kind of partnership with the DPJ, although over the recent years there have been tensions between these two. The Komeito Party have government experience and are the only party to remain free of scandal and corruption since it's formation in the 1950's.
An interesting side-show in the election is the Communist Party of Japan. While in most countries, communism has been dying out, in Japan their membership numbers have been increasing with defectors from both the ruling party and the main opposition parties but we are unlikely to see Japan turning communist anytime soon, but like I said, we all live in uncertain times!