Word: ldp
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...rate of 12.7%, Japan's worst showing since the 1974 oil shock. But instead of taking vigorous steps to counteract a worsening recession, Prime Minister Taro Aso is lurching from one embarrassing gaffe to the next, and seems in imminent danger of losing control of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - and control of the government...
...Indeed, the only thing falling faster than Japanese industrial output is Aso's popularity, which according to a recent Nippon Television survey has sunk to a 9.7% approval rate, the worst for a Japanese Prime Minister since 2001. Even fellow LDP stalwart Junichiro Koizumi, the influential former Prime Minister, has publicly criticized Aso's blunders, calling them "appalling" and "laughable." Nakagawa's Yeltsin-like meltdown "is one more nail in Aso's coffin," says Robert Dujarric, director at Temple University's Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies. "It shows that he's incompetent and so is his administration...
...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...