BBC (late Saturday): Election test for Japan's premier

[Jack Rabbit]

From the BBC Online
Dated Saturday July 10 23:34 GMT (4:34 pm PDT)

Election test for Japan's premier
By Jonathan Head
BBC Tokyo correspondent

Elections for half of the 242 seats in Japan's upper house of parliament are taking place on Sunday.
The vote does not determine who runs the country, but is seen as an important barometer of public sentiment towards the government.
And this time the omens are not looking good for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Recently his personal popularity has dropped to below 40% for the first time since he took office in 2001.

For those watching, it is now about noon on Sunday in Tokyo.

While Koizumi isn't as bas as Aznar, Blair, Berlusconi or Howard and certainly not Bush, he has been an accessory after the fact in Bush's crime against Iraq. It would be sweet to see him take a hit over that.

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Don't expect too much from this election

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.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. Results so far

It's a little after 9:00 p.m. here in Japan and the results so far show the ruling LDP to have 32 seats and their right-wing coalition partner, the Komei-to, to have 6 seats, for a total of 38 seats. The left-leaning Democratic Party of Japan has 36 seats, and there are 3 seats won by other left-leaning parties for a total of 39 seats. One seat has been won by an independent. There are 43 seats left to be decided.

[psychopomp]

3. What is left-wing about the Democratic Party?

I mean that in all seriousness. I do not know any differences in policy between them and the LDP though my perception is that they are not as hawkish as the LDP on security issues.

The DP does not see it necessary to move on Article 9, right?

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Here's a link to their website (in English)

http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/policy/index.html

Among other things, they don't want to abandon the pacifist Constitution, they believe in nuclear disarmament, they prefer diplomacy to aggression.