DPJ to boycott Diet deliberations

Tuesday 18th November, 06:01 AM JST

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11 Comments

gyouza at 07:40 AM JST - 18th November

Clowns? How can you debate when you aren't there? Haven't they let down everyone who voted for them? As usual, they are just playing "politics" at the expense of democracy. Shameful.
namabiru4me at 08:11 AM JST - 18th November

then they should be docked one days pay for not doing their job.
some14some at 08:21 AM JST - 18th November

Aso says fixing economy is his top priority but he can't present supplementary budget even? (except in tv ad Y27tri) well, he wants to remain in power...and Ozawa wants to grab power as soon as possible. good game in front of good audience.
thepro at 08:57 AM JST - 18th November

God, Aso and Ozawa - two of the most boring, disinterested looking old geezers around
Kijimuna at 11:07 AM JST - 18th November

This is a surprisingly good move. Force the election while the economy is in the toilet. Be careful what you wish for, DPJ...
Simon_Foston at 06:07 PM JST - 18th November

Clowns? How can you debate when you aren't there? Haven't they let down everyone who voted for them? As usual, they are just playing "politics" at the expense of democracy. Shameful.

But there's no point in a debate. It doesn't matter what the DPJ say or don't say, right now the LDP have their lower house supermajority and can push through any legislation they like. That's in spite of not having had a PM and Cabinet with a popular mandate since Koizumi stepped down in 2006. Now that's what I call shameful.
Shumatsu_Samurai at 10:25 PM JST - 18th November

That's in spite of not having had a PM and Cabinet with a popular mandate since Koizumi stepped down in 2006. Now that's what I call shameful.

How is it shameful? Does the US president lose his right to veto legislation when his approval ratings become negative? Do all other Parliamentary countries have to have elections whenever there is a new PM or the government loses its positive ratings?

Parliaments have term lengths for a reason - it's so they can have long-term policy plans. Japan isn't any different from say the UK, where Gordon Brown is clinging on in the hope that "something will come up". And at least in Japan you have PMs resigning when they become so badly unpopular that it affects their party and the running of government/the Diet's business - in the UK they hardly ever step down willingly.
Shumatsu_Samurai at 10:38 PM JST - 18th November

Also, Simon, what happens to the Diet if the election is held and the LDP wins, but without a supermajority? Then we will probably see the DPJ boycott everything unless it gets to dictate policy, in the hope for forcing yet another general election. Is that what you would like to see - general election after general election until 2010 when there's the chance to get rid of the DPJ in the upper house?

In my view the only way for Japanese politics to be salvaged is for the DPJ to be defeated in the general election such that it splits up and a proper democratic, reformist faction forms. Then with the LDP probably in a difficult situation to form policy that would get passed, LDP reformists could join the new DPJ organisation.

But if the DPJ win their reformist MPs will be attracted by the idea of government that can pass legislation through both chambers and stay put. Even if a LDP faction broke away without support from the DPJ it wouldn't turn into a viable party that could take control of government in the foreseeable future and be lured back into a LDP administration after future elections when the DPJ crashed and burned.
Simon_Foston at 08:07 AM JST - 19th November

I didn't say any other countries had much better situations. But surely four Prime Ministers and at least that many cabinet reshuffles in the space of a 5-year term is a bit ridiculous, and I don't see how it can be good for long-term policy plans. Like you say, when PMs in Japan get unpopular they have the decency to step down, but doesn't that kind of oblige the next person in the job to take policy in a different direction?

Anyway, I agree that the LDP losing their supermajority or the DPJ winning are not ideal situations either.

In my view the only way for Japanese politics to be salvaged is for the DPJ to be defeated in the general election such that it splits up and a proper democratic, reformist faction forms. Then with the LDP probably in a difficult situation to form policy that would get passed, LDP reformists could join the new DPJ organisation.

Yes, but how is it going to be difficult for the LDP to pass laws if they can just use their supermajority as they do now? I agree, however, that the DPJ needs to become a proper reformist party. At the moment too little distinguishes them from the LDP, certainly not the leadership. In fact, I rather suspect that Mr. Ozawa is hoping for a hung parliament so that he can re-negotiate another grand coalition, pretty much on his own terms.
Shumatsu_Samurai at 08:39 AM JST - 20th November

Yes, but how is it going to be difficult for the LDP to pass laws if they can just use their supermajority as they do now?

That's the whole point - they're almost sure to lost the supermajority even if they can still form a majority government. The DPJ will be defeated if they can't form a majority with the other small parties.
Simon_Foston at 09:15 AM JST - 20th November

Yes, but how is it going to be difficult for the LDP to pass laws if they can just use their supermajority as they do now?

That's the whole point - they're almost sure to lost the supermajority even if they can still form a majority government. The DPJ will be defeated if they can't form a majority with the other small parties.

But surely as matters stand, the DPJ will only be seriously disadvantaged if they lose control of the House of Councillors? In that case the supermajority won't matter as an LDP-controlled upper house is surely going to approve any legislation the lower house passes. I also think that in such a situation any potential LDP reformers will just stay in the party, hoping to achieve more in government than they can in opposition. However, if you are right and it causes the DPJ to disintegrate into one faction that forms the core of a genuinely reformist party and another that rejoins its ideological LDP brethren, all well and good.