Word: ldp
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...Seeking revenge like so many warlords of Japanese myth and history, Koizumi reserved particular wrath for the 37 lawmakers from his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who had opposed the postal-system bill. He ordered LDP headquarters to withdraw support from those rebels running in the election and personally dispatched a coterie of handpicked, telegenic lieutenants?many of them women, and collectively nicknamed "the assassins" by the media?to take on the rebels. The Japanese media may have derisively coined such stunts Koizumi gekijo (Koizumi theater), but the electorate, usually apathetic, was enthralled. By casting the whole election...
...vote substantially altered the party composition. Only 17 of the postal rebels (forced to run as either independents or as part of a new party) managed to return to office. Eighty-three of the LDP winners, meanwhile, are first-time Diet members, now routinely referred to in the Japanese press as "Koizumi's Kids." While it would be an overstatement to say the LDP is now Koizumi's machine, its famously fractious factions have been dealt a mortal blow, and it is more aligned behind a single, strong leader than ever before. "We destroyed the old LDP," said a beaming...
...relative obscurity in the Diet until he unexpectedly vaulted to power in 2001 on a platform that promised sweeping economic reforms. Unfortunately, Koizumi's record has fallen far short of his grand promises, but that's largely due to the stiff opposition he has encountered from old-guard LDP members, whose constituencies have long benefited from exactly the kind of pork-barrel programs Koizumi has been trying to do away with. But now, with many of his staunchest opponents finally ousted, Koizumi is trying to make up for lost time, reintroducing a flurry of previously postponed initiatives designed to produce...
...framing Japan's Sept. 11 parliamentary election as a referendum on his postal-privatization plan and outmaneuvering his rivals with dextrous political campaigning, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has scored his greatest victory, helping the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to its biggest majority since 1986. The encore, however, could prove trickier. Koizumi's postal-reform bill, aimed at breaking Japan's $3 trillion postal service into four separate companies by 2017, will be re-submitted at a special Diet session this week and is all but guaranteed to pass. His plans beyond that are hazy. Koizumi has promised...
...Some wonder if the desire to drive through more of his oft-deferred reforms could spur Koizumi to extend his tenure. But he already appears to be handing tough choices off to his unnamed successor. He has avoided discussing any substantial reforms beyond postal privatization, and while LDP party secretary Tsutomu Takebe has admitted that mounting social-services costs have made a consumption tax hike imminent, Koizumi has committed not to raise them. With tough battles yet to come, University of Kyoto politics professor Terumasa Nakanishi and others believe stepping down as promised may be Koizumi's smartest move?leaving...