Japan: Formation of new government coalition - full text
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Following its sweeping election victory on Aug. 30, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) concluded a coalition deal with two small parties to achieve majorities in both houses of the Diet (the bicameral legislature). The alliance with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People's New Party (PNP) provided the new government with the two thirds majority in the lower house needed to override objections from the upper house. The formation of joint policies proved difficult, especially on defence, with the strongly pacifist SDP in conflict with the DPJ. The SDP demanded an end to active Japanese support for the war on terror and a re-examination of the terms of the US military presence in Japan.
Immediate Context
The DPJ had on Aug. 30 won 308 of the 480 seats in the lower house of the bicameral legislature. The result reduced to a rump the formally dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who had ruled Japan for all but eleven months of the preceding fifty years. Voter turnout had been a little under 50 per cent, slightly down on the figure from 2005. However, typhoon rains and warnings over the swine flu pandemic were considered to have reduced voter numbers.
The election took place against a backdrop of economic hardship in Japan; although the country had in the second quarter of 2009 emerged from recession, exports and unemployment rates had yet to recover from the impact of global economic crisis. The country also faced the burdens of an aging population and low birth rate. The DPJ's campaign pledges had sought to address the effects of economic hardship on the population, promising planned child benefit payments, funding for schools, and pension and healthcare benefits for the elderly. However, commentators - including the Japan Times - described the vote more as a rejection of the LDP than an explicit approval of the DPJ.
Reaction and Outlook
Though Hatoyama called his party's victory a "revolution" in Japanese politics, the result had been widely predicted and was met, according to the Economist of Sept. 5, with little domestic surprise. Share prices on Japan's Nikkei stock exchange rose with the victory announcement to an 11 month high, but declined shortly afterwards. Analysts predicted market uncertainty until the DPJ had confirmed coalition partnerships with smaller parties and appointed a new cabinet.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso said he took responsibility for the LDP's defeat and would resign the party leadership. Another LDP politician said that changing the party leadership three times without holding an election had contributed to the public's loss of faith in the party.
US observers forecast a shift in relations between the two countries, according to a Reuters report of Sept. 1. The DPJ's campaign had included calls for a "more equal" relationship with the USA, though in the wake of victory it was expected to focus on domestic issues at the expense of international relations. In China, another major Japanese trading partner, newspapers welcomed the election result and projected warmer Sino-Japanese contacts under the new administration.
Historical Context
After Japan's defeat in World War II the occupying powers dismantled the Imperial Government, with Emperor Hirohito retaining his place as head of state. In 1946 the Allied powers drafted a new constitution to determine Japan's future self government. This constitution provided for a bicameral legislature with the Emperor remaining as a ceremonial head of state. The constitution barred Japan from ever declaring war and placed stringent limits on Japan's security forces.
The Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952 and the Diet gained full sovereignty over the country. The LDP was formed in 1955 from the merger of the Liberal and Democratic parties whose representatives together commanded a majority in the lower house of the Diet. The party gained a reputation for economic competence as it directed the rapid re-emergence of Japan as a prosperous economic power. Over successive election victories the LDP entrenched its position by building an "iron triangle" of politicians, bureaucrats and corporations.
The LDP retained its monopoly on power until 1993 when it failed to secure a majority in the House of Representatives (the lower house of the bicameral legislature). The LDP's defeat was precipitated by internal divisions and its association with money politics and corruption. A seven-member coalition governed for 11 months before collapsing, at which point the LDP returned to power.
The DPJ, founded in 1998, won a major victory over the LDP in 2007 when it defeated the LDP by a wide margin in elections to the House of Councillors (the upper house of the bicameral legislature). This majority was used to pass a motion of censure against the prime minister the following year, an event unprecedented in Japanese political history. As the world financial crisis pushed the Japanese economy into recession internal dissent damaged the LDP while a corruption scandal undermined the DPJ. Very low poll ratings for the LDP led to the appointment of three different prime ministers without fresh elections. None of the three were able to lift the LDP's approval ratings and the DPJ built a strong lead in opinion polls.
