[Today's Newspaper] fom [The Washington Post]
[Asia/Pacific]
Japan's ruling party could re-emerge after losses
By JAY ALABASTER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 2, 2009; 1:00 PM
TOKYO -- For the past half-century, the Liberal Democratic Party has called the shots in Japan, naming the prime ministers, filling the Cabinets and setting the national agenda. Now, it is learning to look at itself in a new way - as the opposition.
After the party was trounced in elections Sunday, those members who managed to hold onto their seats described themselves as "lucky."
But while the pro-U.S., pro-big business Liberal Democrats learn to live with their worst defeat ever, analysts say they remain a force to be reckoned with and could even stage a comeback in the next year or so if the rival Democratic Party of Japan fails to deliver on its promises to turn around Japan's moribund economy.
The idea of losing power is so new - the Liberal Democrats have governed almost without break since 1955 - that the chief spokesman for outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso said he wasn't sure exactly what to do.
"Japan isn't like the United States or Britain," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Wednesday. "We don't have a framework to carry out this transition."
Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama met Wednesday with senior leaders of his camp and two smaller parties that are expected to join them in the new administration. He also had his first telephone call with President Barack Obama early Thursday, his party said. Hatoyama was expected to be formally installed as prime minister on Sept. 16, and name his Cabinet within a day or two of that.
Some time as the leading opposition party could give the Liberal Democrats the impetus they need to regroup and get back in touch with the needs of voters, analysts said.
"In a way, the loss is positive for the LDP because many of the old-timers have been swept away," said political analyst Eiken Itagaki.
Among the old guard party members who lost were a former prime minister and several former Cabinet ministers. Itagaki said the house-cleaning may provide an opportunity for relatively young LDP stars such as Nobuteru Ishihara, 52, the son of Tokyo's governor, to bring a fresher approach to the party's platform and appeal to a broader range of voters.
Jiro Yamaguchi, a politics professor at Hokkaido University, warned that as the party seeks to revive itself, it could be tempted to pursue a more conservative agenda, including possibly revising the country's pacifist constitution and advocating a more bellicose approach toward North Korea.
He said, however, that to survive the party should move in the other direction.
"If they don't become more moderate, they risk becoming a minor party," he said.
In Sunday's vote, the Liberal Democrats lost 60 percent of their seats and their majority in the more powerful lower house of parliament. It was a stunning defeat for the party that has run the country for nearly 54 years, yielding power only for an 11-month period more than 10 years ago and fielding 35 of the country's last 38 prime ministers.
"We must solemnly reflect on the state of the Liberal Democratic Party and on whether our policies reflect the will of the people," a grim-faced Aso said in a news conference Monday, conceding defeat and announcing he would step down as party chief.
Takashi Tanihata, an LDP lawmaker from near Osaka, said on his Web site he was "lucky" to be re-elected and said his party must work to rejuvenate itself.
Still, while Sunday's election demonstrated that Japan is clearly tired of the status quo, it is not certain that voters are sold on the Democratic Party, which is in effect being given a trial run.
If they fail to deal with the stumbling economy and record unemployment, they could suffer a rebuke by voters when elections for the weaker upper-house of parliament are held next year.
"The Democrats have a year to make things work," said Martin Schulz, a senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute.
That view was underscored Wednesday by the first major poll conducted since the elections.
In the poll, published by the Asahi, a major newspaper, 81 percent of respondents said they felt the reason for the Democrats' win was that the nation wanted a new administration, but only 38 percent said the victory was due to support for the party's polices.
The poll also showed support for the Democrats was just 39 percent - meaning they go into their new administration with a weak mandate.
The poll was a random telephone survey of 1,104 eligible voters conducted on Monday and Tuesday. It gave no margin of error, but a poll of that size would generally have one of about 3 percentage points.
"The truth is that this was a crushing defeat for the Liberal Democratic Party rather than a victory for the Democratic Party," Shigeru Ishiba, an LDP heavyweight who served in the latest Cabinet as agriculture minister, wrote on his blog Tuesday.
[Asia/Pacific]
Japan's ruling party could re-emerge after losses
By JAY ALABASTER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 2, 2009; 1:00 PM
TOKYO -- For the past half-century, the Liberal Democratic Party has called the shots in Japan, naming the prime ministers, filling the Cabinets and setting the national agenda. Now, it is learning to look at itself in a new way - as the opposition.
After the party was trounced in elections Sunday, those members who managed to hold onto their seats described themselves as "lucky."
But while the pro-U.S., pro-big business Liberal Democrats learn to live with their worst defeat ever, analysts say they remain a force to be reckoned with and could even stage a comeback in the next year or so if the rival Democratic Party of Japan fails to deliver on its promises to turn around Japan's moribund economy.
The idea of losing power is so new - the Liberal Democrats have governed almost without break since 1955 - that the chief spokesman for outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso said he wasn't sure exactly what to do.
"Japan isn't like the United States or Britain," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Wednesday. "We don't have a framework to carry out this transition."
Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama met Wednesday with senior leaders of his camp and two smaller parties that are expected to join them in the new administration. He also had his first telephone call with President Barack Obama early Thursday, his party said. Hatoyama was expected to be formally installed as prime minister on Sept. 16, and name his Cabinet within a day or two of that.
Some time as the leading opposition party could give the Liberal Democrats the impetus they need to regroup and get back in touch with the needs of voters, analysts said.
"In a way, the loss is positive for the LDP because many of the old-timers have been swept away," said political analyst Eiken Itagaki.
Among the old guard party members who lost were a former prime minister and several former Cabinet ministers. Itagaki said the house-cleaning may provide an opportunity for relatively young LDP stars such as Nobuteru Ishihara, 52, the son of Tokyo's governor, to bring a fresher approach to the party's platform and appeal to a broader range of voters.
Jiro Yamaguchi, a politics professor at Hokkaido University, warned that as the party seeks to revive itself, it could be tempted to pursue a more conservative agenda, including possibly revising the country's pacifist constitution and advocating a more bellicose approach toward North Korea.
He said, however, that to survive the party should move in the other direction.
"If they don't become more moderate, they risk becoming a minor party," he said.
In Sunday's vote, the Liberal Democrats lost 60 percent of their seats and their majority in the more powerful lower house of parliament. It was a stunning defeat for the party that has run the country for nearly 54 years, yielding power only for an 11-month period more than 10 years ago and fielding 35 of the country's last 38 prime ministers.
"We must solemnly reflect on the state of the Liberal Democratic Party and on whether our policies reflect the will of the people," a grim-faced Aso said in a news conference Monday, conceding defeat and announcing he would step down as party chief.
Takashi Tanihata, an LDP lawmaker from near Osaka, said on his Web site he was "lucky" to be re-elected and said his party must work to rejuvenate itself.
Still, while Sunday's election demonstrated that Japan is clearly tired of the status quo, it is not certain that voters are sold on the Democratic Party, which is in effect being given a trial run.
If they fail to deal with the stumbling economy and record unemployment, they could suffer a rebuke by voters when elections for the weaker upper-house of parliament are held next year.
"The Democrats have a year to make things work," said Martin Schulz, a senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute.
That view was underscored Wednesday by the first major poll conducted since the elections.
In the poll, published by the Asahi, a major newspaper, 81 percent of respondents said they felt the reason for the Democrats' win was that the nation wanted a new administration, but only 38 percent said the victory was due to support for the party's polices.
The poll also showed support for the Democrats was just 39 percent - meaning they go into their new administration with a weak mandate.
The poll was a random telephone survey of 1,104 eligible voters conducted on Monday and Tuesday. It gave no margin of error, but a poll of that size would generally have one of about 3 percentage points.
"The truth is that this was a crushing defeat for the Liberal Democratic Party rather than a victory for the Democratic Party," Shigeru Ishiba, an LDP heavyweight who served in the latest Cabinet as agriculture minister, wrote on his blog Tuesday.
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