December 27, 2012

Akahata editorial

The Liberal Democratic and Komei parties formed a coalition government, bringing LDP leader Abe Shinzo back to the cabinet head. Abe became the second prime minister since Yoshida Shigeru who was named again as premier despite being driven out of the post once.

During the recent general election campaign, Abe argued that the LDP has changed after losing power three years ago. Judging from the party’s campaign pledges, the agreement with the Komei in forming the administration, and the new cabinet lineup, it is clear that the party has become more hawkish than ever and is sticking to its conventional economic policies that prioritize the interests of business circles.

Abe threw out government in first period

When Abe launched his first cabinet in September 2006, the coalition of the LDP and Komei had more than two-thirds of all seats in the Lower House. But the approval rating of the cabinet dropped immediately after Abe adversely revised the Fundamental Law of Education and maneuvered to change the Japanese Constitution for the worse in the name of “breaking away from the postwar regime”. The LDP was defeated in the unified local elections and the Upper House election in 2007 and Abe was forced to step down in less than a year after taking office. The successive administrations headed by LDP leader Fukuda Yasuo and Aso Taro did not last long either. In 2009, the LDP fell from power.

This time as well, the LDP and Komei bloc again gained over two-thirds of all seats in the Lower House. Their “landslide victory” was brought about by an “error” by the Democratic Party of Japan and the unfair single-seat constituency system. The percentage of votes gained by the LDP in the single-seat constituencies was about 40%. The absolute proportion of votes the party received was 24% in the single-member constituencies, and 15% in the proportional representation districts. If the coalition government neglects the public will, it will be cornered instantly.

Over the last three years, as an opposition party, the LDP has pushed the DPJ to force the passage of a bill to increase the consumption tax rate. The party also revised its platform to enable the state to exercise the right of collective self-defense and published a draft constitution to upgrade the Self-Defense Forces to a “national defense military”. The LDP incorporated its intention to accelerate the debate for constitutional revision in the agreement with Komei. Appointing a couple of women to key posts cannot free the LDP from coming into collision with the people’s wishes.

In the new Cabinet, Abe’s close ally Aso Taro, who was also the prime minister in the former LDP-led government, has been appointed as the deputy prime minister and the finance minister, and nuclear power-advocate Amari Akira as the economic revitalization minister. In addition to Abe’s hawkish friend Shimomura Hakubun, who holds the position of education minister, two pro-Yasukuni LDP lawmakers joined the Cabinet. Having in mind the new U.S. base construction in Okinawa, Abe picked Kishida Fumio as foreign minister and Onodera Itsunori as defense minister. The new Cabinet lineup indicates Abe’s clear intent to promote economic policies favoring larger corporations and financial institutions and gear up for implementation of conservative policies such as constitutional revision. It is inevitable that Abe’s regressive policies will increase opposition from the general public.

Change political direction

Abe held talks with the U.S. president and with business leaders before forming his Cabinet, showing no sign of changing the direction of politics loyal to Washington and centering on large corporations’ interests. How can he say that the LDP has changed?

As long as the Abe administration ignores the demands of the general public, his government will deepen the contradiction with the public, which will lead Abe to a dead end just as he experienced during his previous term of office as prime minister.