Japanese voters sweep Liberal Democrats from office

[Hannah Bell]

The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) routed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in lower house elections yesterday. The Liberal Democrats have held power in Japan since the party’s formation in 1955, with the exception of an 11-month period in 1993-94.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun, the DPJ has increased its presence in the lower house from 113 to 308 seats... the DPJ-led coalition will have 318 seats, just short of the two-thirds majority needed in the 480-seat lower house to override an upper house veto.

For the Liberal Democrats, the outcome is devastating. The party’s seat tally slumped from 300 to 119. Its coalition partner, New Komeito, dropped from 31 to 21 seats...The Mainichi Shimbun estimated voter turnout at 69.3 percent—the highest since single-seat constituencies were established in 1996...

As the economic crisis worsens, the DPJ will quickly lose support. Political analyst Minoru Morita told the Washington Post: “The Democrat Party actually has no economic policy. They have no systematic proposals, no New Deal. Without a plan, they cannot overcome the crisis left to them by the LDP...

While the economic crisis over the past year was a major factor in the election campaign, the decline of the Liberal Democrats has far deeper roots. As a party of the post-war period, the LDP rested on its Cold War alliance with the US and a program of national economic regulation. The globalisation of production processes that undermined the Soviet Union in the 1980s also impacted on the Japanese economy. It was no accident that the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s coincided with the collapse of Japan’s stock market and property bubbles, which ushered in a protracted economic stagnation...

Given the country’s deep economic malaise and the widespread hostility to the political establishment generally, the new government is certain to face political crises—in all likelihood, sooner rather than later.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/japa-a31.shtml

[RandomThoughts]

1. The party that lost is refered to as the conservative party.

http://news.aol.com/article/japan-election/476269

Fed up with the LDP, voters turned overwhelmingly to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which ran a populist-leaning platform with plans for cash handouts to families with children and expanding the social safety net.
"This is a victory for the people," said Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democrats and almost certainly Japan's next prime minister. "We want to build a new government that hears the voices of the nation."
Hatoyama and his party — an eclectic mix of former Liberal Democrats, socialists and progressives — face a daunting array of challenges, economic and demographic.

...

The Democrats' plan to give families 26,000 yen ($275) a month per child through junior high is meant to ease parenting costs and encourage more women have babies. Japan's population of 127.6 million peaked in 2006, and is expected to fall below 100 million by the middle of the century.
The Democrats are also proposing toll-free highways, free high schools, income support for farmers, monthly allowances for job seekers in training, a higher minimum wage and tax cuts. The estimated bill comes to 16.8 trillion yen ($179 billion) if fully implemented starting in fiscal year 2013 — and critics say that will only further bloat Japan's already massive public debt.

[and-justice-for-all]

3. So the good guys won? Is that what I am reading? nt

[Dutch]

5. Yes, the (relative) good guys won.

In Japan, as in much of the world, "liberal" has right wing connotations, and the LDP is very conservative. The DPJ aren't exactly leftist radicals, but their program is moderately progressive.

[Ghost Dog]

2. Tokyo's foreign policy too subservient to Washington - Hatoyama

He has advocated revising Japan's pacifist constitution to acknowledge the nation's right to defend itself and said Tokyo's foreign policy was too subservient to Washington.

Tokyo's contributions to U.S. military operations abroad could cause friction under the Democrats, although the party has stressed continuity in ties with Washington.

Hatoyama himself raised eyebrows this month in an essay that railed at the "unrestrained market fundamentalism" of U.S.-led globalisation. He played down those comments late on Sunday.

"Washington can take some comfort from knowing that dire predictions of a dramatic leftward-course shift from the Japanese ship of state are wrong," said Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington.

"But even minor policy changes or alterations in tone will have far-reaching implications and cause strains."

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINT35607620090831?rpc=44&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

[exboyfil]

4. Consider how we went from a large trade deficit to a much

smaller one with Japan - their national interest is no longer in our direction.

The trade numbers are truly astonding (looking from June 1999 to June 2009)

2009
Year To Date
Deficit in Deficit in
Millions Millions
Country Name of U.S. $ of U.S. $

China -18,429.97 -103,051.24
Japan -3,703.69 -17,950.02
Mexico -3,426.81 -21,174.17
Federal Republic of Germany -2,300.17 -11,521.60
Venezuela -1,803.65 -7,147.06
Ireland -1,682.26 -10,585.54
Canada -1,599.99 -8,581.63
Nigeria -1,260.92 -4,582.47
Italy -1,188.55 -6,578.04
Russia -1,068.25 -6,111.01

1999
Year To Date
Deficit in Deficit in
Millions Millions
Country Name of U.S. $ of U.S. $

JAPAN -6,277.80 -33,594.96
CHINA -5,665.93 -29,340.74
CANADA -2,799.05 -14,855.20
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY -2,701.37 -12,657.30
MEXICO -2,461.70 -12,382.73
TAIWAN -1,538.48 -7,881.80
ITALY -1,255.99 -5,954.16
MALAYSIA -932.12 -5,545.84
THAILAND -857.27 -4,191.93
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF -732.26 -3,216.59

[Ghost Dog]

6. Yes. Japan's markets are increasingly in China and the rest of Asia, and

in Latin America, Africa, developing markets generally.

US and European markets for Japanese products will only hold steady or decline.

[FarCenter]

7. Japan's future requires partnership with China and Russia

Russia for Siberian raw materials. China for markets for Japan's exports.

Japan will also develop closer ties to ASEAN.

Don't expect any quick progress on Korea. Status quo is fine with Japan, China and Russia. If anything, Japan and China will be in greater competition with South Korea.