Koizumi triumph is start of reshuffle in Japanese, politics , EDITORIAL Options

[taiwan_honbura]

2005-09-15 / Taiwan News /

The election for the 44th House of Representatives in Japan's bicameral Diet Sunday resulted in a massive and stunning victory for Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

After the LDP's 296 seats, up from 212 before the poll, are combined with the 31 seats of coalition ally New Komeito, Koizumi secured 327 seats and a two-thirds majority control over the Diet's lower house for the first time since 1990 in addition to a renewed mandate.

Koizumi dissolved the previous Diet and called for new elections over the issue of whether to proceed with his proposal for the privatization by 2017 of Japan's postal service, which, similar to Taiwan, also includes a massive postal savings component.

The entire election can be said to be a gamble by Koizumi over his entire government, reform policies and personal leadership.

He won. The result of the polls show that Koizumi's decision to use reform as the stake for this political gamble was correct.

'Koizumi tornado'

This result sends an unambiguous message to the Japanese political elite and an important message from Japan to the rest of the world: namely, Japan has chosen reform and not isolation and is willing to face the challenges brought by economic globalization.

The "Koizumi tornado" has undoubtedly delivered a major shock to the Japanese political stage, but this shock is just beginning. The real fundamental change is now just surfacing.

After scoring a historic landslide victory, the Japanese ruling alliance of the right-wing LDP and the Buddhist-inspired New Komeito under Koizumi will become even more entrenched.

But the LDP under Koizumi's forceful leadership has only taken the first step in reform. After destroying the old structure and organization of the past conservative order, the new-generation LDP will face even more decisive tests in the process of building a new political order.

In the wake of the loss of 62 seats to only 113, Democratic Party of Japan Chairman Okada Katsuya resigned immediately after the poll. In the wake of this severe setback, the DPJ faces a major shake-up in leading personnel and policies.

The impact of the DPJ's defeat on the overall Japanese political system and whether the once vibrant opposition party can make a comeback and remain a weighty political force will be carefully watched in the future.

Japan has seen few prime ministers as forceful as Koizumi since the end of the Second World War and his emergence shows that the majority of Japanese voters deeply hope for strong leadership for fundamental reform.

Confusion over the future

At present, Japan society is wrought with feelings of confusion and lack of direction. These sentiments derive from the deeply felt dissatisfaction of Japanese citizens with the current state of the social economy and with official corruption.

Many Japanese citizens are increasingly concerned with the rapid pace of economic expansion of neighboring countries, especially the People's Republic of China, and sense that Japan's self-definition and national directions are in a state of confusion.

In this climate, forceful advocates of reform with youthful, populist images such as Koizumi have cultivated and attracted considerable public backing.

In Sunday's election, Koizumi attained two major objectives, namely to continue in office and to transform the character of the LDP itself.

With the departure and subsequent electoral defeat of numerous former LDP heavyweights who broke ranks with the prime minister and party leader on the postal privatization vote, the LDP has now truly become "Koizumi's LDP."

The continued governance of Koizumi's LDP-New Komeito Cabinet is naturally beneficial for the promotion of constructive relations between Taipei and Tokyo.

Koizumi's administration has been one of the most friendly Japanese governments to Taiwan in the postwar period and the Japanese prime minister and United States President George W. Bush both are very concerned with the security of Taiwan and peace in the Taiwan Strait.

Right-wing movement

Nevertheless, Koizumi's forceful leadership may also lead to the adoption in Tokyo of a harder and more aggressive stance in foreign policy.

After resolving the question of postal privatization, Koizumi may well be tempted to carry out a comprehensive reorganization of his Cabinet and of the LDP itself.

With a two-thirds majority with New Komeito, Koizumi would have enough votes to override vetoes by the upper House of Councilors and enact constitutional amendments.

We can anticipate that the right-wing prime minister, armed with such an overwhelming mandate, will be tempted to press controversial issues such as the legitimization of Japan's Self-defense Forces in the Constitution and the revision of Japan's peace constitution, especially the critical Article Eight in which Japan renounces the right of belligerency.

A warning sign that Koizumi should not ignore was the result of a poll taken by the Yomiuri Shimbun Tuesday which showed that 63 percent of those surveyed were concerned that the prime minister might abuse his two-thirds majority, compared to 30 percent who had no such concerns.

Sunday's elections will certainly bring about a reshuffling of the Japanese political stage and whether this reshuffling will spark new changes in East Asian and international politics and in Japan's own national direction will merit our close attention.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/Editorial/2005/.../1126752563.htm

[kyo35]

I don't think LDP is right -wing.(lol)The term of office as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party is around 1 year. Koizumi wants to resign as the Prime Minister afterwards. Japanese want him to continue it. Koizumi is close to Bush personally, and the Republican Party media likes him, too.

Anyway, are you 内省人？

[RentonWong]

Koizumi will visit the Yasukuni shrine to thank his mentors for his triumph.