DPJ coalition talks drag on; Aso to resign Sept 16

Wednesday 09th September, 06:31 AM JST

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12 Comments

Gaijinocchio at 09:01 AM JST - 9th September

Tuesday’s talks between their policy chiefs due to differences in their positions on foreign and national security issues.

postponing cabinet picks, dragging coalition talks, even waiting for housing.

I'm getting the feeling the Japanese government is in disarray ;-)
Fredster at 09:17 AM JST - 9th September

YES... things are likely to remain unchanged... EXCEPT - Instead of a duly elected ruling majority running the government ( albeit perhaps poorly for the past 50 odd years ) and doing whatever they feel - NOW - the government is going to be controlled by a handful of mean-nothing wanna-be politicians from obscure parties in the upper house because without them to back up the lower house's whims they will find themselves in the same predicament that the LDP has for the past 18 months with every bill and bit of legislature held up by the upper house.... TURN-ABOUT is FAIR-PLAY as far as I'm concerned...
CoolCali at 09:18 AM JST - 9th September

Transitions take time... main problem is the silly notion of coalition. Guess I don't know much about the way a parliamentary system works, but why is a coalition needed if you already have 308 out of 480? And moderator, why did my last post get yanked? Seems like some folks around here can piss and moan about anything, but if you comment on their comment, your stuff gets yanked, but theirs stays. What's up with that?
katsu78 at 09:40 AM JST - 9th September

Gaijinocchio

postponing cabinet picks, dragging coalition talks, even waiting for housing.

I'm getting the feeling the Japanese government is in disarray ;-)

Yeah. How dare a Japanese government not be up and running a week before it even takes office, a week after it was elected.
smithinjapan at 10:55 AM JST - 9th September

noborito: "does anyone really think change will happen? comeon. same old same old."

I don't know about the second part of your statement (a wee bit strong, methinks), but I agree with the first. The DPJ took all but a few hours to start backpeddling on promises (one promise, in fact, they reneged on a week before the election when polls projected MAJOR wins), and now they are set up to be EXACTLY like the LDP; in fact, many head members ARE very recent former LDP members.

katsu: "Yeah. How dare a Japanese government not be up and running a week before it even takes office, a week after it was elected."

It's not that they haven't fulfilled their promises yet, it's that they are suddenly announcing about turns and simply 'looking into if they are feasable' when before they simply promised to do it. They've been elected for a week and are ALREADY making the same excuses the LDP made for years, albeit for different promises. Amakudari? no longer going to be abolished. Cutting wasteful spending? going to be looked into by a special panel over the next four years, etc.

As for Aso... if only the man had listened to calls to resign when it was clear where the LDP was headed if he did not... perhaps things would be SLIGHTLY more balanced. I still think they needed to go, but the extreme majority the DPJ got is worrying. What's more, there is NO NEED for a coalition with numbers this strong. The Communist Party most certainly needs the coalition to prop themselves up, but what's in it for the DPJ except a few guaranteed lost votes next time around (if not many)? Did the Communist Party actually gain in the last election? The Your Party?
timorborder at 11:23 AM JST - 9th September

I used to be indecisive, but now I am not so sure.

With the way the economy is, the DPJ should not be pandering to the political rump that is the Social Democratic Party and the People’s New Party. The DPJ have been given a clear mandate to govern, and they should get on with the job rather than brown-nosing to these minor parties who offer little other than being anti-American (Social Democratic Party) and anti-reform (the People’s New Party), both issues that are not currently not at the top of the "Things to Do List."
Simon_Foston at 11:50 AM JST - 9th September

What's more, there is NO NEED for a coalition with numbers this strong.

Unfortunately there might be, as the DPJ by themselves don't have a simple majority in the Upper House. The LDP and other parties in the Upper House will still be able to veto legislation if they want to, so the DPJ will need to co-operate with some other party to stop that happening. Still, you'd have thought they might have got the coalition arrangements sorted out and agreed on before the Lower House election.
smithinjapan at 12:36 PM JST - 9th September

Simon: "The LDP and other parties in the Upper House will still be able to veto legislation if they want to, so the DPJ will need to co-operate with some other party to stop that happening."

So... who is it that have all these Upper House seats you are talking about? The Your Party? The Social Democratic Party? I don't think either have any seats at all, do they? The only people they could ally themselves with to get votes through is the Komeito, but that's not going to happen for a variety of reasons, first and foremost because the latter are stuck with the LDP.
stirfry at 02:30 PM JST - 9th September

forget coalitions, they're a recipe for stalemate...the winners should kick the losers out, with as much violence as possible
Shumatsu_Samurai at 04:01 PM JST - 9th September

the DPJ will need to co-operate with some other party to stop that happening

Neither of the parties in the supposed coalition have enough seats to give the DPJ a majority in the upper chamber. The DPJ will still have to appeal to independents.
Shumatsu_Samurai at 04:03 PM JST - 9th September

I was assuming the Commies won't be in the coalition, btw.
Simon_Foston at 10:28 PM JST - 9th September

So... who is it that have all these Upper House seats you are talking about? The Your Party? The Social Democratic Party? I don't think either have any seats at all, do they? The only people they could ally themselves with to get votes through is the Komeito, but that's not going to happen for a variety of reasons, first and foremost because the latter are stuck with the LDP.

Out of 242 seats, the DPJ have 109, not enough for a simple majority, SDP 5, PNP 4 and Independents and others 14, compared to 82 for the LDP and 21 for New Komeito. The DPJ currently cannot get legislation through both Houses by themselves if the other parties get together in the Upper House to block it.