Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is on track for a stunning victory in tomorrow’s election, returning to power with hawkish former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at the helm, and possibly ending Japan’s political gridlock.
Opinion polls by the Asahi, Yomiuri and Nikkei newspapers yesterday forecast that the LDP was headed for a hefty majority in the powerful, 480-seat lower house of parliament.
The LDP and its smaller ally, the New Komeito Party, could even gain the two-thirds majority needed to break through a policy deadlock that has plagued the world’s third-biggest economy since 2007.
An LDP win tomorrow would usher in a government committed to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear power energy policy despite last year’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, and a radical recipe of hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to end persistent deflation and tame a strong yen.
Sino-Japanese relations chilled sharply after Japan bought some of the Daiyotai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, which are also claimed by Taiwan and China, from their private owner.
Abe may temper his hard line toward Beijing with pragmatism as he did when he took office in 2006, but he may have less leeway to do so this time as tensions escalate and experts agree that his focus will be to bolster the US alliance.
Japan is in its fourth recession since 2000 and business sentiment worsened for a second straight quarter in the three months to this month, and will barely improve next year, a central bank survey showed yesterday.
The worsening business outlook strengthens the case for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to take bolder action to support an economy hurting because of the global slowdown and pressure from the row with China. The BOJ is scheduled to hold a policy meeting next week.
Between 30 percent and nearly 50 percent of voters were undecided just days before the election, the surveys showed. Experts said that was unlikely to affect the general trend, although turnout will probably fall below the 69.28 percent seen in the last lower-house election in 2009.
Contributing to the indecision is a fragmentation of the political landscape that has resulted in a dozen parties, some of them just weeks old, contesting the election, and confusion over policy differences between the main contenders.
“Unlike the past two [lower house] elections, the main points of contention are not so clear and in that sense, it is hard for voters to understand,” said Yukio Maeda, a political science professor at the University of Tokyo.
“But if there is no huge news, bad or good, in the next few days, there is unlikely to be a shift that is beneficial or detrimental to any particular party,” he said.
The surveys showed that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which surged to power three years ago on promises to pay more heed to consumers than corporations and break bureaucrats’ stranglehold on policymaking, could win fewer than 70 seats. That would be its worst showing since its founding in 1998, the Nikkei said.
The new right-leaning Japan Restoration Party, created by popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and now led by outspoken nationalist Shintaro Ishihara, was struggling and might win fewer than 50 seats, the Asahi newspaper showed.
If the LDP and the New Komeito control two-thirds of the lower house, they could enact legislation even if it is rejected by the upper chamber, where they currently lack a majority.
Since 2007, no ruling bloc has had a majority in the upper house, which can block bills other than treaties and the budget.
However, over-riding the upper house is a cumbersome and time-consuming process, so the LDP and its ally will be aiming to win a majority in the chamber at an election in July next year when half the seats are up for grabs.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft