Word: ldp
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...weekend in Tokyo's municipal elections, Prime Minister Taro Aso announced the lower house of the Japanese parliament will be dissolved on July 21 and a general election will be held Aug. 30. Aso's decision ended months of speculation as to when his battered administration and fellow LDP lawmakers would finally have to face voters. The country's last general election was in September 2005. (See pictures of Japan and the world...
...recent election results are any indication, the Japanese electorate is prepared to end the LDP's long stint running the country. In Tokyo's Metropolitan Assembly elections, considered a bellwether of the country's mood, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) for the first time won a majority - a stinging defeat for the LDP and its ruling coalition. DPJ members ended up with 54 seats, compared with 38 for LDP candidates. "This [win] is big enough to indicate that, within the country, the trend is not good for the LDP," says Robert Dujarric, director of Temple University's Institute...
...reached a five-year high of 5.2%, and industrial output is down one-third from a year ago. A recent poll conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper showed that 41% of Japanese would vote for the DPJ in a general election, while just 24% would cast ballots for the LDP. "Ordinary people are seeking a change of government," says Takao Toshikawa, editor of political newsletter Tokyo Insideline. "I dare say that DPJ will have an enormous victory, perhaps a landslide...
...Yosano is able to be flexible because - unusually for a leading Japanese politician - he has no factional ties. He gets appointments the Confucian way: through merit. And his political contacts are not confined to the LDP; he plays go with opposition party president Ichiro Ozawa. As his plans become more front and center, his star seems to be on the rise. Yosano took second place to Aso in last September's elections for a new LDP leader. "Given the problems that Japan faces, people feel that there's a solid quality to Yosano, a trustworthiness that makes people feel confident...
...pull Japan out of its economic tailspin. The public's lack of confidence in the government's handling of the economy has benefited the opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) - so much so that it could wrest control of government from Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for the first time in decades in the next general election. There has been speculation that Aso might call an election in May or June to take advantage of a political-contributions scandal surrounding DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, but no decision has been made. An election must be held...