OSAKA – Voters in Japan flocked to rallies yesterday as official campaigning began in an election that is expected to see prime minister Taro Aso’s party ousted for only the second time in its 54-year history.
Polls show Mr Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) heading for defeat in the August 30th vote for parliament’s powerful lower house, which would usher in a government led by the opposition Democratic Party.
The Democrats have pledged to revive the economy by putting more money in the hands of consumers, to postpone raising the 5 per cent sales tax for the next four years and to adopt a diplomatic stance less subservient to the United States.
Financial markets would welcome the prospect of smoother policymaking as Japan shakes off a recession, although some analysts say the Democrats’ ambitious plans could inflate already high public debt and push up long-term interest rates.
The Democrats and their allies won control of parliament’s upper house in 2007 and can block legislation.
Facing a crowd of hundreds in the western city of Osaka, Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama accused the conservative LDP of ignoring ordinary voters and said it was time for change. “Everyone, the day has come to rewrite history,” said Mr Hatoyama to cheers from the crowd.
“With your power, let’s have the courage to start a new chapter of politics with you all at the centre,” he said from on top of a van as voters waved yellow banners and fans, the campaign colour for the Democrats’ local candidate.
The decade-old Democratic Party has its best shot to date at seizing power from the LDP, which has ruled for all but 10 months since its creation in 1955 and is struggling with new challenges such as China’s rise.
News on Monday that Japan’s economy returned to growth in the second quarter will probably do little to revive the LDP’s fortunes, analysts said, even though the figures marked the end of the country’s longest recession since the second World War.
Mr Aso, the 68-year-old grandson of a former prime minister, is the third LDP premier in as many years. His two predecessors stepped down after their approval ratings plummeted.
He took office last September but his hopes of leading the party to victory have slid after a string of policy flip-flops, verbal gaffes and scandals in his cabinet.
To woo back voters, Mr Aso is crediting the LDP’s economic stimulus packages with helping Japan weather the global financial crisis and has accused the Democrats of being weak on security policy and irresponsible on financial issues.
“It is the LDP who will protect Japan. It is the LDP who will protect all the people’s livelihoods,” Mr Aso told a big gathering of mostly party supporters on the outskirts of Tokyo. – (Reuters)