Historic win the start of bumpy road for Japan’s new leaders
August 31, 2009
Sunday’s election blowout by Japan’s centre-left opposition was an epochal event in the country’s post-war history but the inexperienced new government has no time to rest on its laurels.
Exit polls signalled a sweeping victory for the untested Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), marking the dawn of a true two-party system after half a century of almost unbroken LDP rule.
DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama energised voters with his promise of “revolutionary change” — but now he must deliver as the country faces key challenges, from its deep economic malaise to a looming demographic timebomb.
“We are witnessing a sea change in post-war Japanese politics,” said Hideo Otake, politics professor emeritus of Kyoto University.
“This is the first time since 1955, when the LDP began its more than half century of almost uninterrupted rule, that the opposition leader has won the post of the prime minister by defeating the ruling party in elections.”
The LDP’s only previous stint in opposition lasted for about 10 months in 1993-94, when a coalition of eight smaller parties briefly took charge.
Gerald Curtis, a veteran Japan watcher and professor of political science at Columbia University, agreed that “this is the end of a 50-year period in Japanese politics. This is not the LDP losing, it’s collapsing.”
“Monday morning a new era begins in Japanese politics and no-one can say with certainty how it’s going to turn out.”
Curtis said that “the biggest and most immediate challenge for the DPJ will be how they will organise themselves… There is almost no-one in that party who has any experience in running a government.”
The landmark win “is just the beginning of a bumpy road ahead for the DPJ”, said Hiroshi Hirano, politics professor at Gakushuin University, pointing to Japan’s economic woes, with unemployment at a post-war high of 5.7 percent.
Source: thedailystar.net
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