| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japan government mauled in election, policy at risk |
| 2010-07-12 |
| [Dawn] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's coalition government suffered a major blow in Sunday's upper house election, exit polls showed, threatening efforts to curb massive public debt and putting his own job at risk. Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) were set to win just 47 seats and its tiny partner, the People's New Party (PNP), were set to win none, losing their combined majority in parliament's upper house, exit polls showed. The polls show the Democrats far short of Kan's goal of winning 54 seats, a result that leaves him vulnerable to a challenge from inside his own party. "The Democrats disappointed me. The situation has clearly worsened in many ways. The mood of the country has become dark after the party took power," said Sachiko Takeda, a 64-year-old housewife, who said she voted for the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo. The Democrats, who have relied on the support of the People's New Party to control the upper house, will almost certainly stay in power by virtue of their majority in parliament's lower house. But they will need to seek new partners to control the upper chamber, complicating policymaking as Japan struggles to engineer growth and rein in public debt nearly twice the size of GDP. The Democrats swept to power last year promising to cut waste and focus spending on consumers to boost growth. Public backing nosedived due to indecisive leadership and while government ratings rose when Kan took over last month, they slipped after he floated a rise in the 5 percent sales tax to help rein in debt. A poor election outcome leaves Kan vulnerable to a challenge from party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa -- a critic of his sales tax hike proposal -- ahead of a September party leadership vote. Few, though, would expect Kan to go without a fight. Without a coalition majority, the Democrats will need to seek new allies, hampering their push for fiscal reform including a possible sales tax hike. The DPJ's current coalition partner opposes raising the 5 percent sales tax any time soon, as do some potential allies. Other opposition parties agree a hike is inevitable but would probably be reluctant to help out the rival DPJ, which has not yet mapped out any detailed tax reform proposals. The leaders of two potential partners, Your Party and New Komeito, which partnered with the Liberal Democratic Party until its defeat last year, have rejected the idea of an alliance with the DPJ. Analysts say they might change their tune later, but would drive hard bargains if the Democrats fare badly. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Joe: Stop shouting! |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2010-07-12 11:46 |
| #3 WMF > US PENTAGON: CHINA PLANS TO BUILD FIVE FBM NUCLEAR SUBMARINES FOR PLAN, EACH CAPABLE OF STRIKING/COVERING THREE-FOURTHS OF CONUS WITH NUCLEAR FIRE. * SAME > CHINA SHOCKS THE WORLD: CHINA READY TO GIVE UP ITS "NO FIRST USE" OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGZ ENEMY STATES? * SAME > PLA GENERALS IN SUPPORT OF US-LED CONSTRUCTION OF "INTERNATIONAL" OR UN-CONTROLLED JOINT BASES IN THE PERSIAN GULF. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-07-12 03:25 |
| #2 GUAM PDN FORUMS > OKINAWA LEGISLATORS PASS ANOTHER RESOLUTION CALLING FOR US MARINES TO BE OUT OF OKINAWA [leave]. * SAME > NEW JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER NOT PLANNING TO STICK TO OLD US-JAPAN PLAN FOR NEW MILITARY AIRSTRIP | [Japan's] GOVT [re-]CONSIDERS ITS OPTION FOR SOLE OFFSHORE RUNWAY [connected to Camp Schwab]. * TOPIX > US MILITARY PRESENCE TO STAY A THORN IN US-JAPAN RELATIONS + CHINA LIKES NEW JAPAN PM KAN BUT KEEPS AN EYE ON OZAWA. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-07-12 03:10 |
| #1 ION NIPPON + OKINAWA + SINA, WMF > JAPAN'S GOVT. AFTER 40 YEARS OF [revised]US-JAPAN SECURITY TREATY REFRAINS FROM MAKING STRONG UNILATERAL DEMANDS FOR RETURN OF US OKINAWA BASES TO JAPAN OUT FEAR OF INSTIGATING/OFFENDING CHINESE INTERNET USERS [also read, PRC GOVT AGENCIES-USERS aka BEIJING]. NOBILITY + PEOPLE OF FORMER VASSAL RYUKYU KINGDOM NOW OKINAWA HAVE CHINESE ANCESTORS, MAINLAND CULTURAL + IMPERIAL TIES. PROTRACTIVE COLD WAR, POST-1949 "NEW CHINA" SUPPORT OF MAO ZEDONG + ZHOU EN-LAI TO COVERTLY MAINTAIN HISTORIC OKINAWA/RYUKYU LINKS WID RED CHINA UNTIL ITS FUTURE DIPLOMATIC OR MILITARY-LED RECOVERY BY RED CHINA NAVY [PLAN]. Also from WMF > JANES DEFENSE: CHINA'S DESIRED "ASIA-PACIFIC AIR POWER [Strategic Offensive-Defensive AF capabils ala USAF-NATO] IS NOT INVINCIBLE OR REALISTIC [at present]DUE TO LACK OF PRACTICAL OPERATIONS + COMBAT EXPERIENCE, LACK OF INFORMATION SOFTWARES. * SAME > APART FROM REGAINING TAIWAN, 21st CENTURY RISING/MODERN CHINA HAS NO IDEA ON HOW MUCH ANCIENT OR ANCESTRAL SOVEREIGN TERRITORY IT NEEDS TO RECOVER. * SAME > SINO-JAPAN MILITARY CONFLICT + SECOND KOREAN WAR: CHINA WILL EASILY DEFEAT, DESTROY TECHS-SUPERIOR JAPAN DUE TO JAPAN'S LACK [by Treaty]OF LR STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL NUCLEAR BALLISTIC MISSLES. PLA CONVENTIONAL BLITZKRIEG AGZ TAIWAN, KOREAN PENINSULA; PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGZ JAPANESE MILBASES [including USFJ]]TO OCCUR BEFORE JAPAN CAN EFFECTIVELY RESPOND. IIUC ARTIC > Despite its massive manpower reserves + strategic bombers, CPLA's DECISIVE MIL ADVANTAGE AGZ JAPAN lays SOLELY in 2010 China having LR Nuke Missles while 2010 Japan currently does not. * NEWS KERALA > TOP CHINESE THINK-TANK SEES FACEBOOK + OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES [Internet e.g. GOOGLE + GMAIL]AS A SECURITY THREAT TO CHINA. * SAME > US PACIFIC COMMANDER ADMITS AMERICA'S INTERESTS + STRUGGLE TO ISOLATE, DEFEAT RISING CHINA COULD BE BETTER SERVED BY THE US BUILDING NEW MILBASES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS [SE Asia + Indian Ocean]. THREAT TO CHINA BY STRONG NUCLEAR JAPAN, NUCLEAR SOUTH KOREA, US-CONTROLLED TAIWAN, US AIRCRAFT CARRIERS IN AUSTRALIA, + US RETURN + MIL BUILDUP IN SOUTH CHINA SEAS. * WMF POSTER > opined that iff IMPERIAL CHINA did NOT act decisively in times past, WHOLE OF WEST CHINA could be INDEPENDENT MUSLIM STATE(S)right now. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-07-12 01:30 |