Reply #1: Don't expect too much from this election [View All]

[Art_from_Ark]

Upper House elections in Japan are mostly symbolic, since that body has no real power in the legislative process. A lot of people are also turned off by the so-called "proportional districts" in which they merely vote for a party, then the winning party selects the person to occupy the position. Sometimes the "winning candidate" is a Jesse Ventura/Ahnuld type.

:argh:

At any rate, this election reminds me of the 1989 or 90 Upper House election in which the ruling party was mired in the so-called "three-piece set" of political problems-- the "josei mondai" (Japan's version of Monica), the implementation of the unpopular national sales tax, and the Recruit scandal. The opposition Socialist Party won that election, and people were talking about the Socialists finally breaking the 44-year-long grip on power by the ruling party. However, in the next meaningful election (Lower House), the ruling LDP came out on top.