Re: the Japanese elections
Koizumi's job just got harder.
cnn.com
Election blow for Koizumi
From CNN Correspondent Atika Shubert
Sunday, July 11, 2004 Posted: 9:17 PM EDT (0117 GMT)
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Exit polls show Japan's ruling coalition party holding on to its parliamentary majority, but the Liberal Democratic Party won fewer seats than expected.
The Japanese public is not happy with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, or his LDP, and in Sunday's vote, they told him so.
"I was an LDP supporter. But I think the LDP needs some sort of punishment, otherwise nothing will change," one Tokyo voter said.
Koizumi had set a target of winning 51 seats out of the 121 seats up for grabs in Japan's upper house of parliament.
The LDP gained enough to maintain a majority with its coalition partners -- but not enough for Koizumi to silence his critics.
Koizumi was voted in three years ago on a wave of popularity with a whopping 80 percent approval rating.
Now he is struggling. His ratings have plunged to just 40 percent after he decided to keep Japanese troops in Iraq and pushed through an unpopular bill to reform the country's pension system.
The beleaguered system is unable to pay for Japan's aging population. Koizumi's answer has been to introduce legislation that increases payments and cuts payouts.
They were necessary reforms, Koizumi says, but it was not a popular policy.
On Iraq, the public is deeply divided over the wisdom of Koizumi's ambitious deployment -- Japan's riskiest mission since WWII.
When Koizumi announced that troops would be staying on after the Iraqi handover -- without consulting lawmakers -- the public was not pleased.
But the prime minister insists the vote is not a reflection on him.
"My goal was to gain more than 51 seats. But it was a very close competition.
"However, as long as the ruling coalition maintains its majority, I do not think my responsibility for this vote is an issue."
Meanwhile, it was all smiles at the main opposition Democratic Party, or DPJ. It won more seats than the LDP, maintaining the momentum of big gains in lower house elections last November.
This poor performance means Koizumi will have to spend more time fending off rivals within the LDP, which may make it difficult for him to pursue the reforms the public demands of him. |
