ID :
132351
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 05:04
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/132351
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Japan political leaders make final push for Sunday`s election
URAYASU, Japan, July 10 Kyodo -
Japanese political leaders on Saturday made last-minute efforts to drum up
voter support in some of the most hotly contested constituencies in Sunday's
upper house election, with the main ruling and opposition parties running a
close race.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who heads the Democratic Party of Japan, urged the
public not to let the historic change of government last year be wasted.
''We have created an environment in which the public can play a leading role in
politics,'' Kan said in his last stump speech in the evening in Urayasu, Chiba
Prefecture. ''We have taken a big step. Please understand this significant
achievement.''
While many media surveys have shown that the ruling camp is at risk of losing
its majority in the chamber, Kan asked for another chance for the DPJ to work
on its policies to revitalize Japan.
''I have faith in your verdict,'' said Kan, who replaced the increasingly
unpopular Yukio Hatoyama a month ago.
Sadakazu Tanigaki, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's main
opposition party, told a crowd in Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture, that the DPJ's way
of running the government is arbitrary and irresponsible.
''To have decent politics again, we have to defeat the ruling bloc and prevent
it from gaining a majority,'' said Tanigaki.
The LDP ruled Japan almost continuously for more than 50 years until the DPJ
won a landslide in the more powerful lower house last August.
''Whether Japanese politics can again be good hinges on this battle,'' Tanigaki
said.
The House of Councillors election is the first national poll since the DPJ
swept to power last year, pledging to wrest control of policymaking from
Japan's powerful bureaucracy, cut wasteful spending of taxpayers' money and put
more cash into the hands of people in the prime of their lives.
A total of 437 candidates are competing for the 121 seats up for grabs in the
election.
Pre-election surveys released this week by major media outlets predict the
two-party ruling coalition led by the DPJ will find it tough to win the 56
seats needed to maintain a majority in the upper house.
Regardless of the outcome, the DPJ will stay in power as it controls the House
of Representatives. But should it suffer a serious setback, it is most likely
that the Japanese political environment will be more turbulent as it will
become hard to pass bills smoothly in the Diet.
Many of the surveys show that the DPJ may not secure more than 50 seats,
despite Kan's self-imposed target of winning at least 54 seats, the same number
of the ruling party's seats that are up for grabs in the triennial election in
which half of the upper house's 242 seats are being contested.
The LDP has a good chance of winning around 45 seats, up from the 38 it
currently holds among the seats to be contested.
However, the two major parties' platforms resemble each other in many respects.
One of the reasons why the DPJ is facing an uphill battle is related to Kan's
stance on tax reform.
Kan, who was finance minister before becoming prime minister on June 8, put
fiscal consolidation at the heart of the 17-day campaign and called for debate
with the LDP and other parties on whether to raise the consumption tax.
Kan has said the LDP's policy of doubling the tax to 10 percent could be ''one
of the references'' -- a remark widely interpreted as suggesting the DPJ's
approach to repairing the country's finances is equivalent to the opposition
party's, despite its vow to cut wasteful spending.
Against this backdrop, Your Party, formed by one of the LDP defectors, Yoshimi
Watanabe, last August and which has opposed tax increases and put elimination
of wasteful public expenditure at the center of its campaign, is projected to
win nearly 10 seats among those to be contested, according to the surveys.
About 100 million Japanese citizens aged 20 or older are eligible to vote from
7 a.m. Sunday until polling stations close by 8 p.m.
Full results are expected to be known by Monday morning.
Of the 121 seats, 73 are for single- or multi-seat prefectural constituencies
and the rest are for the national proportional representation segment in which
a voter can write either the name of a candidate or political party on the
ballot.
A total of 12 political parties are vying to win seats in the proportional
representation section.
==Kyodo
Japanese political leaders on Saturday made last-minute efforts to drum up
voter support in some of the most hotly contested constituencies in Sunday's
upper house election, with the main ruling and opposition parties running a
close race.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who heads the Democratic Party of Japan, urged the
public not to let the historic change of government last year be wasted.
''We have created an environment in which the public can play a leading role in
politics,'' Kan said in his last stump speech in the evening in Urayasu, Chiba
Prefecture. ''We have taken a big step. Please understand this significant
achievement.''
While many media surveys have shown that the ruling camp is at risk of losing
its majority in the chamber, Kan asked for another chance for the DPJ to work
on its policies to revitalize Japan.
''I have faith in your verdict,'' said Kan, who replaced the increasingly
unpopular Yukio Hatoyama a month ago.
Sadakazu Tanigaki, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's main
opposition party, told a crowd in Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture, that the DPJ's way
of running the government is arbitrary and irresponsible.
''To have decent politics again, we have to defeat the ruling bloc and prevent
it from gaining a majority,'' said Tanigaki.
The LDP ruled Japan almost continuously for more than 50 years until the DPJ
won a landslide in the more powerful lower house last August.
''Whether Japanese politics can again be good hinges on this battle,'' Tanigaki
said.
The House of Councillors election is the first national poll since the DPJ
swept to power last year, pledging to wrest control of policymaking from
Japan's powerful bureaucracy, cut wasteful spending of taxpayers' money and put
more cash into the hands of people in the prime of their lives.
A total of 437 candidates are competing for the 121 seats up for grabs in the
election.
Pre-election surveys released this week by major media outlets predict the
two-party ruling coalition led by the DPJ will find it tough to win the 56
seats needed to maintain a majority in the upper house.
Regardless of the outcome, the DPJ will stay in power as it controls the House
of Representatives. But should it suffer a serious setback, it is most likely
that the Japanese political environment will be more turbulent as it will
become hard to pass bills smoothly in the Diet.
Many of the surveys show that the DPJ may not secure more than 50 seats,
despite Kan's self-imposed target of winning at least 54 seats, the same number
of the ruling party's seats that are up for grabs in the triennial election in
which half of the upper house's 242 seats are being contested.
The LDP has a good chance of winning around 45 seats, up from the 38 it
currently holds among the seats to be contested.
However, the two major parties' platforms resemble each other in many respects.
One of the reasons why the DPJ is facing an uphill battle is related to Kan's
stance on tax reform.
Kan, who was finance minister before becoming prime minister on June 8, put
fiscal consolidation at the heart of the 17-day campaign and called for debate
with the LDP and other parties on whether to raise the consumption tax.
Kan has said the LDP's policy of doubling the tax to 10 percent could be ''one
of the references'' -- a remark widely interpreted as suggesting the DPJ's
approach to repairing the country's finances is equivalent to the opposition
party's, despite its vow to cut wasteful spending.
Against this backdrop, Your Party, formed by one of the LDP defectors, Yoshimi
Watanabe, last August and which has opposed tax increases and put elimination
of wasteful public expenditure at the center of its campaign, is projected to
win nearly 10 seats among those to be contested, according to the surveys.
About 100 million Japanese citizens aged 20 or older are eligible to vote from
7 a.m. Sunday until polling stations close by 8 p.m.
Full results are expected to be known by Monday morning.
Of the 121 seats, 73 are for single- or multi-seat prefectural constituencies
and the rest are for the national proportional representation segment in which
a voter can write either the name of a candidate or political party on the
ballot.
A total of 12 political parties are vying to win seats in the proportional
representation section.
==Kyodo
