Many LDP heavyweights ousted

Monday 31st August, 07:59 AM JST

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11 Comments

Scrote at 09:37 AM JST - 31st August

Aso, Abe, Mori and Fukuda: four demonstrably useless men re-elected. Then we have Yosano, Yamasaki and Ibuki, stale and tired old men in their 70's. What do these people have to offer?

By the way, Aso won by a large margin, it wasn't a "narrow escape".
Altria at 09:50 AM JST - 31st August

defeated by DPJ rookie Eriko Fukuda, 28, known as the leader of a group of plaintiffs in a series of lawsuits filed by sufferers of hepatitis C who contracted the disease through tainted blood products.

Oh man, that chick with the bob cut ran in the election and won?! She certainly made the most of her Hep C publicity.
timorborder at 09:53 AM JST - 31st August

As somebody who has a postgraduate degree in Japanese politics, it was with great enthusiasm that I opened the newspaper this morning to read which members of the LDP had become roadkill run over by the DPJ landslide. The list is indeed rather impressive. In addition to the high-profile scalps of Nakagawa and Machimura, it was a bit sad to see Kaifu go down after so many years. Unfortunately, however, it appears that Toxic Taro Aso missed the ultimate embarrassment of going down in his own electorate. If that had happened perhaps he would have become as famous as his grandfather, all be it for different reasons.
hoserfella at 10:55 AM JST - 31st August

I was truly disappointed to see that knuclehead Mori not get thrown out. How could people vote for a guy with the IQ of a 6 year-old??
hoserfella at 10:55 AM JST - 31st August

meant to write "knucklehead"
ilcub76 at 12:21 PM JST - 31st August

the proportional representation system, that gives candidates a second chance to be elected

Doesn't this defeat the purpose of an election to choose your representative? I thought that the single-seat constituencies were drawn proportional to the population.
onewrldoneppl at 03:40 PM JST - 31st August

Aso, Abe, Mori and Fukuda: four demonstrably useless men re-elected. Then we have Yosano, Yamasaki and Ibuki, stale and tired old men in their 70's. What do these people have to offer?

i'll second that. i was hopin'those four (plus kouizumi's son) would've been sharin'a tent in hibiya park by now. eatin'government cheese and collectin'discarded aluminum cans to make ends meet. seems the old adage is true: "only the good die young" ... he he he. these old crones will live forever to haunt japanese politics!
lotus2 at 05:08 PM JST - 31st August

Congratulations to the DPJ members on their victory! Thumbs-up also to the LDP members for putting up a courageous fight in the face of tremendous opposition -- these are true Japanese samurais!
stirfry at 05:26 PM JST - 31st August

these are true Japanese samurais!

calm down son
frontandcentre at 06:06 PM JST - 31st August

Nakagawa getting turfed out is sweet justice for the profound embarassment that he caused his country. If ever there was somebody who thought he was in the Diet "by rights" it was that man. I hope that hereditary politics has had its day in Japan, and that people genuinely vote on merit from now on, rather than on respect for the "old man." Probably a vain hope, however.

As for 85-year-old politicians...well, Robert Mugabe's about 85, surely that's all that needs to be said?
sharky1 at 07:08 PM JST - 31st August

LDP...Lazy, Divisive, and Pretentious