Word: ldp
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...LDP groups. He chose his Cabinet so as to give proper balance to members of the various factions; with seven of the 21 ministries, Tanaka's men won the lion's share. Although he is more outspoken than his predecessors, Nakasone avoids making decisions unilaterally. Like a chairman of the board, he must operate by consensus...
Nakasone's views on the major issues reflect the fact that the LDP, in spite of its name, is basically a conservative, free-enterprise party. He has called for strengthening Japanese defense forces as well as his country's ties to the U.S. and the West. He favors cutting income taxes, trimming the government bureaucracy, and paring the nation's swelling budget deficit, now $57 billion. The Prime Minister wants to transfer control of many state-owned companies to private hands. (At the top of his list: the Japanese National Railways.) On the controversial topic of educational reform, he proposes...
Despite his troubles, Tanaka not only kept his Diet seat but remained leader of the about faction within the LDP. He can be disarmingly diffident about his influence. "When one is engaged in the same business as long as I have, one knows nearly everything about it," he once said. "One could even hold sway over our party's presidential election by using the telephone and nothing else." Indeed, selection has done just that: he played a crucial role in the selection of his three successors, including Nakasone. Tanaka has retained control of his party fiefdom by dint...
...When the polls closed, Nakasone had reason to smile-if somewhat thinly. In the first national contest since the LDP designated him to be Prime Minister last November, the party picked up an additional three seats in the 252-member upper house of parliament, boosting its total to 137. (The LDP already controls 284 of the 511 seats in the more powerful lower house...
...that Japan should increase defense spending and further open its markets to imports. The election also buoyed Japan's business community: the Tokyo stock market hit record highs twice last week. On the other hand, the Prime Minister intentionally had skirted foreign policy issues during the campaign. The LDP fell short of its goal of a five-seat gain, and the voter turnout of 57% was the lowest since World War II. The apathetic response could be blamed partly on changes in the electoral system that while designed to focus attention on issues rather than personalities, only confused voters...