Media criticize Aso for mistakes during Davos speech

Monday 02nd February, 07:09 AM JST

TOKYO —

Prime Minister Taro Aso on Sunday came in for heavy media criticism over his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The premier also prepared for tough questioning in the Diet over the ailing economy and upcoming polls.

Local media criticized Aso for his performance in Davos, where he pledged 1.5 trillion yen in aid to other Asian nations.

Aso fumbled his keynote speech in Switzerland and referred to former British premier Tony Blair several times as “Tony Brown”—an apparent mix-up with current Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

“The premier remained the same in that he lacked carefulness,” the Fuji TV network said.

“Prime Minister Aso is expected to remain in a situation which does not warrant optimism in both domestic politics and foreign affairs,” TV Asahi noted.

The conservative Sankei was a bit more charitable, saying in its Internet edition that Aso may simply have become mixed up due to the fact that he was only in Switzerland for seven hours.

Aso—who took office in late September and has seen his approval rating plummet since to less than 20%—has repeatedly rejected calls for snap polls from the opposition, which controls the upper house of the Diet.

The opposition has denounced a stimulus package which the prime minister pushed through parliament last week to revive Asia’s largest economy, calling it a waste of taxpayers’ money that will not save Japan from the depths of recession.

On Monday, Aso will answer questions in the upper house, where the opposition’s calls for snap polls are mounting.

Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition is expected to lose its majority in the lower house when Japan goes to the polls. The prime minister must call a general election by September.

The government’s controversial economic stimulus package includes a plan to give the public two trillion yen in a bid to kickstart domestic spending, but the opposition says the coalition is trying to buy votes ahead of the elections.

The plan still needs to be backed by a separate bill to provide funding for the handout.

In Davos, Aso highlighted Japan’s efforts to increase domestic demand with stimulus packages worth a total of 75 trillion yen, calling for other nations to adopt similar economic policies.

“I would like to close my remarks today by reiterating my strong belief that with firm will any difficulties can be overcome,” Aso said.

But the influential Asahi newspaper said: “The gap between the premier’s words and the plight of the Japanese economy is conspicuous.”

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 30 Total Comments Show All

samsarks at 04:46 PM JST - 2nd February

Kwatt-I doubt if u live in jp cos i dont know where you getting your information from.which TV debates are you talking about?which magz,public auditoriums are you referring to?jp people will admit that the majority dont engage in politics.check onthe last elections held and look at the percentage who went to the polls.only the "obasans and ojisans".Also,you referring to people who engage in radical demonstrations as stupid is regrettable.all around the world we have witnessed what radical demonstrations are worth.in most cases it has achieved its objectives.check on your facts nd come again
kwatt at 05:13 PM JST - 2nd February

smasarks - Mojority of Japanese people DID NOT engage in politics, but time has already been changed lately. Now majority of people are very interested in politics because big election is maybe coming soon in April becuse one of big issues is social security and pension system of very near future. Ojisan and Obasan people will have to depend on these policies, Yes, however, it is true that there are ojisans, obasans still not being interested in politics. Japanese do not mind at all that you accept radical demostration in your country but Japanese surely will not. I think this is culture difference between.
some14some at 05:38 PM JST - 2nd February

Media should criticize Davos summit not an individual "leader" like Aso.
Potsu at 05:56 PM JST - 2nd February

kwatt...Japanese generally accept that meaningful political change will never happen...the "shyouganai" attitude is the majority here. Your comments about tv programs and magazines etc are utterly ridiculous.What programs etc are you on about ?????? People just accept the political fate meekly and we keep getting served up idiots like Aso etc and nepotistic politics that won't change.
onewrldoneppl at 06:12 PM JST - 2nd February

1.5 trillion yen?! i'd love to wring his neck!! instead of 12,500 yen; i demand 200,000 yen for each adult taxpayer and 50,000 for each of their dependents!!! that son of ....
kwatt at 06:18 PM JST - 2nd February

Potsu - It is possible that political change may not happen as you said. But Japanese will not use violences to change. Today LDP is almost dictator as ruling Japan for more than 60 years. All politicians are not bad maybe some bad. I think that Japanese will change it for people without radical demonstrations as Japan learned something from the past. Wait and see.
williamsmith at 07:21 PM JST - 2nd February

Isn't it Charlie Brown he was thinking out? His mentor Snoopy says "Hey Aso, nobody voted for you so you shouldn't be speaking in Davos."
Sammi33 at 07:45 PM JST - 2nd February

Abe,Fukuda,Aso...that's the three stooges out of the way.

Well when Curly died they got Shemp...so we're not in the clear yet.
samsarks at 07:49 PM JST - 2nd February

kwatt-i work in a japanese office and i have been having discussions with some.Also,i usually visit Waseda and have chanced on some political science students there.It will amaze you that they see such demonstratons as the way forward for politics in this country cos they believe there is no way for them to engage in active politics with those old nagging " oyaji's" in control.we might see what is happening in Thailand surface here too.
bakabaka at 09:25 PM JST - 2nd February

Japan has a long history of political violence..... the japanese people have only recently become sheeple....
mongolia at 12:00 AM JST - 3rd February

Japan helps to poor countries but not sucks them. In this article it was said that Japan will donate some money to some asian countries. yeas we are foreigners in this country , but it doesn't mean that we should lie
NeoJamal at 07:08 AM JST - 3rd February

I'm just curious as to what you non-Japanese think the ideal Japanese democracy. As we saw in Davos, Aso is the last and the most incompetant eligible prince in the party. We can all agree on the demise of the perpetual LDP regime after this guy, but what from there? Do we want Japanese to feel so ashamed of their role in WWII that they refuse to recognise themselves as a nation and capitulate even further to the Americans or Chinese while giving so much money away to international institutions like the UN without asking for any recognition in return?

Also we can never allow the Japanese to become competant in defending themselves. Oh no, any thought that Japan could reasonably use force to defend their shores can only evoke images of them bayonneting Chinese babies. Just think, a Tomahawk cruise missile can be tipped with a spear such that they can be launched from their Aegis Destroyer to spread mayhem and impale innocent children of Shanghai. This is a risk we cannot take.
sf2k at 03:31 PM JST - 5th February

whoa, that's a little off topic eh NeoJamal? The only thing holding Japan back is recognizing itself to itself anymore than Germans have done and must continue to do to fight racisim and facisim. The end result is a caring prosperous culture but not a forgetful one, nor a 'sheeple'.

Japan is a beautiful place and once or even during this recession it might find strength to overcome many challenges, starting with Aso. (I know I'm overly hopeful, but I'll put it out there). When CJK can finally all figure it out that would be really cool.
sf2k at 03:37 PM JST - 5th February

the media seem to be making fun of him while trying best to sound serious. I know that media don't exactly complain outright, but is there not an outlet for direct disapproval that you may have seen recently? Or don't people realize it's their grandma's money he's toying with?
ultradodgy at 05:11 PM JST - 6th February

The real question is, is this dude just really losing it or have people (presumably senior people in politics and business) just been kinda shuffling their feet and looking away from all the gaffes these last, oh, 50 years or so?