Ex-state minister Watanabe quits LDP

Tuesday 13th January, 01:04 PM JST

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borscht at 12:39 PM JST - 13th January

Here's the ship. There are the rats. By the way, 'denying' means it was not ignored; just that Aso wants a cushy job after he, er, retires from politics.
solarbuster at 12:47 PM JST - 13th January

Yep, the rats are starting to desert the sinking ship.
wanderlust at 06:26 PM JST - 13th January

A new party? Will it be any more effective than any of the others? Can we expect to see the Shin Shin Kou Mei Tou?
nutsagain at 07:08 PM JST - 13th January

Watanabe has been a maverick from the get go. How much of this is just self-serving publicity rather then high-minded principles is questionable. He's quite a handful and has plenty to say when the spotlight is trained on him that's for sure.
sk4ek at 07:10 PM JST - 13th January

Watanabe actually talks a good talk--he sounds truly fed up with business as usual--and he is taking the first steps to walk the walk, given his previous high-level posts in the LDP, he may have the pull to take a few influential people with him (something ex-Nagano governor Tanaka hasn't been able to accomplish from his "outsider" position).

I think he's serious in his intent, but will inevitably be unable to breach the great wall of the bureaucracy.