Word: ldp
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...election for the lower house of the Diet has to be called by Sept. 10, but the surmise in Tokyo is that it may come as early as May 24, which is, by coincidence, Ozawa's 67th birthday. If the DPJ does indeed supplant the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and form a government, the significance of its victory would be enormous. The LDP has held power continuously (save for a brief period in 1993) since the modern Japanese political system took root in 1955. And it would not just be any old opposition leader who would be taking over...
...needs fresh ideas. The global recession has hit Japan harder than any other developed nation. Exports are plummeting, Japan's economy is contracting at double-digit rates and the country's industrial giants are reeling. Rarely has "stay the course" seemed so grossly inadequate as a solution, yet the LDP seems unable to mount a credible recovery effort, and the public is fed up with the bumbling half measures of party hacks. (Read "Sony's Woes: Japan's Iconic Brands Under Fire...
...hats in Aso's government: running the ministries of economy and finance and the Financial Services Agency, which oversees banking. If things get much worse for the Prime Minister and he is forced to resign, there is even talk that Yosano, who was runner-up to Aso in the LDP elections in September, could replace him as the new head of the party and lead it in upcoming general elections against Japan's resurgent opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan...
...doubtful that Yosano will be able to turn things around. Yosano claims he taught Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the DPJ, the chess-like game of go. But the last time that Yosano and Ozawa played a match, Ozawa won. With the LDP reeling, it appears Ozawa now holds the political advantage as well - and this will affect whether the government is able to take more decisive action to combat the economic downturn. While Aso's Cabinet in December approved $811.9 billion in stimulus spending, little of that money has been put into action. Other measures are seen as piecemeal...
...Absent an economic miracle, it's possible Japan's political landscape will change dramatically in the next several months. The LDP has been Japan's ruling party for most of the past 50 years. But if deteriorating conditions force Aso to dissolve the Diet's lower house soon, an exasperated Japanese electorate could hand the DPJ enough seats in a general election to take control of the Diet and choose a new Prime Minister. Aso may not survive as the nation's chief long enough to suffer that humiliation, though. "There's no optimistic short-term scenario for Japan," says...