politics

Abe's cabinet likely to be long on loyalty, short on reform

20 Comments
By Linda Sieg

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

20 Comments
Login to comment

That is disheartening - Japan's bureacracy, in particular, needs serious down-sizing.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

If you look at the seats (in parliament), 40 percent are urban and 60 percent are non-urban. Are we really going forward with TPP or economic reform? That’s not so easy,” said Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities in Tokyo. “The question is whether Abe will have the fortitude and guts and energy and bull-headedness to push through (reforms).”

This is exactly what the LDP wants. The non-urban folks represent the farmers, who are highly subsidized, and some of the people elected were from the proportional representation bloc that the LDP instituted years ago to protect themselves from losing out to urban centered opposition groups.

The LDP has traditionally counted on these non-urban voters to support them and there is little chance that the TPP will be joined with all those over-subsidized farmers and JA backing them there.

The light that was starting to show at the end of the tunnel just got a whole hell of a lot smaller, if not extingushed.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This is just disaster, any way you spell it.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

I am just soooooo relieved. There I was, thinking Abe would do something for the country and its people, and put the nation on a path to reform and maybe enter the 21st century. Thank god he's only thinking of his friends and the old farmers who support him. Young urban people need to learn to grow money trees.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Inflating the economy? Too bad, the economy is a very complex and delicate system; it is not a balloon.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@YGHome3 young urban people need to get a degree, learn a second lanuage, eg, English/Chinese. then when living in Japan becomes too stressful they can move to a country that has a better future. then well see how the J Gov, farmers support the country when the younger generation leave the country in droves.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This is just disaster, any way you spell it.

true, 'Conservative' Members Representing 'Liberal' Party !

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hopefully the upper house election which awaits next year should add some pressure to Abe to start working on some deregulation and structural reform initiatives. Hopefully the voters will be carefully monitoring his every move in the meantime.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Abe may, however, put contentious issues that could upset China and South Korea on the backburner to concentrate on the economy.

Oh god, I hope not. That really can't get delayed again.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Japan has a problem with being selfish - each country in a world and it's people are selfish to a certain point which is normal, but here farmers which are usually old people maybe 1% or less of the entire population block reforms such as trading because it worked in the 80' and they would have a personal loss even they don't have much of a future (10-20 year average?) It's one reason young people in Japan don't want to put Kids in this world because they can't hope for support of society (working hours for instance) support of government (labor rights, child allowance going up and down every year)

I don't know why and even I live in this country since a while I did not notice it right when I got here but I'm sure the sense of community and helping each other was greater 50 years ago - today nobody gives a sh...t, unfortunately.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

“He (Abe) is a real Japanese economic traditionalist - inflate the economy to try to get growth but don’t try anything that will upset the proverbial apple cart.”

Spend, spend, spend...and then spend some more. Abenomics is nothing but the same thing the LDP did for years, without bringing the economy out of nearly three decades of stagnation. The old folks, construction firms, and the farmers are going to really celebrate New Year this year.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

with a few party rivals added to fend off criticism of cronyism

If the shoe fits............! They are not politicians. There are bureaucrats and only want to increase their personal position and power. They don't give a fat rat"s about politics. This is the problem with Japanese politics and has been for over 50 years. Not one of these cronies has actually studied political sciences and they have no formal education in the field. Is it any wonder Japanese politics is a bloody shambles???

1 ( +1 / -0 )

some14some:

A general misconception by people who have not studied political philosophy is the meaning of Liberal (note the capital L, because there is a difference between Liberal (the political philosophy) and liberal (the modern word for being progressive in thinking)). Thanks to US media and politics, the word Liberal is often misunderstood to mean progressive/radical. In reality, fiscal conservatism is actually true Liberalism, so the LDPs name is accurate.

Read Locke's 2nd Treatise on Government for an accurate description and ideology of Liberalism.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

kringisDec. 25, 2012 - 12:42AM JST

In reality, fiscal conservatism is actually true Liberalism, so the LDPs name is accurate.

Read Locke's 2nd Treatise on Government for an accurate description and ideology of Liberalism.

Good point. His ideology is hard to take off in Japan as Japanese culture is not based on Christianity or/and old Chinese Confucius. Many conservatives do not know what to do with true freedom. They like to be told what to do.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Abe is long on loyalty to Yasukuni.

Abe , Ishihara , and the right-wing of Japan want to go to war, why are we supporting this?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I still do not understand why the Japanese public voted Mr. Abe in again. When Mr. Abe was Prime Minister first time round his cabinet was surrounded by numerous scandals. Likewise, some governmental departments proved to be very incompetent. It would appear the Prime Minister elect somehow thinks he has a sacrosanct right to his country's premiership by the sheer fact of his surname. I would also like to point out that while on the election campaign trail Mr. Abe made a lot of promises which may turn out to be most difficult to put into practice now that he is in government. For instance, for all the tough talk about Japan's diplomatic relations with both North Korea and China it is difficult to see how-- and what-- the actual policies towards these countries will be. Personally, I would have given Mr. Noda more time to accomplish his political project. Time will tell if Mr. Noda was the right choice for Japan now.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I would have given Mr. Noda more time to accomplish his political project.

Yep, he was used as a scapegoat for DPJ failing policies. With Tohoku earthquake disaster, Noda did not have enough time to accomplish his mission.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I still do not understand why the Japanese public voted Mr. Abe in again. When Mr. Abe was Prime Minister first time round his cabinet was surrounded by numerous scandals.

The public did not directly vote Abe into office. He won his election in his own little private corner of Japan. The people voted for the LDP and the only way to not have Abe as PM in his current situation as head of the LDP would be for him to lose his own election in Yamaguchi OR not vote for the LDP members standing for election in their districts.

Abe was elected to head the LDP from within the LDP itself.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I would have given Mr. Noda more time to accomplish his political project.

How? He was in office for a little over one year, facing a vocal opposition, fading economy, recovery issues, international pressure with territorial issues, TPP, Okinawa and the base issues and Osprey, a party that was divided amongst itself, and not to mention the fact that he isnt the most charismatic guy to ever be PM.

Noda was doomed from the day he became PM, it was just a matter of time.

Abe will only last longer so long as he keeps his party in check and follows along with what the people behind the scenes tell him to do.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites