Word: ldp
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...reality, Abe is unlikely to fall so quickly. The LDP holds an unassailable majority in the Diet's lower house, and approval ratings for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) are even worse than the Prime Minister's. Abe's supporters also argue that he remains relatively popular by the lackluster historical standards of most Japanese leaders, and that he hasn't received enough credit for repairing Japan's often fractious relations with its Asian neighbors. Shoichi Nakagawa, the LDP's powerful policy chief, asserts that the Abe Cabinet takes everyday issues just as seriously as it does...
...issue of poverty and social disparity more seriously than Koizumi did, appointing a special minister to take charge of a program designed to help the unemployed and underemployed refine their job skills. "We're hardly disregarding people's kitchens," says Nobutaka Machimura, a former Foreign Minister and influential LDP Diet member. But when Abe's feel-good rhetoric clashes with the economic realities of Japan today, he can look disingenuous or simply ineffective. At the LDP convention in January, Abe declared that "economic growth is not for business enterprises, it is for the public," and later called on Keidanren, Japan...
...revision is a bold move that will enable Japan to take control of its destiny and reimagine itself as a nation. "Many systems in Japan haven't changed since the Meiji period, and they're not suited to today's situation," says Hidenao Nakagawa, the secretary-general of the LDP. Revision "will help the everyday issues, the small politics...
...took power. While Koizumi continually irritated his neighbors by visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, Abe tactfully sidestepped the issue by refusing to say what he intends to do about Yasukuni. "He's shown real success in dealing with this," says Koichi Kato, an LDP heavyweight who has been critical in the past of Abe's nationalist leanings...
...advisers know that diplomatic successes play well in foreign op-ed pages. But they also realize the Prime Minister must begin to show that he can address the pain Japanese voters are feeling at home-while reassuring a worried LDP that he can still lead the party to victory in the crucial July elections. In recent weeks there has been disquieting dissension within the Prime Minister's own Cabinet. Abe has had to rein in his Defense Minister and Foreign Minister over remarks both men made that were critical of the U.S., Japan's key ally. The diplomatic damage...