Economy decides Japan's election
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
One may agree or not with the saying that economy is the engine of politics but it is the economic issue primarily that has decided Sunday's general election in Japan. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has won a landslide victory -- 308 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives -- dealing a crushing blow to the Liberal Democratic Party which had been running the show in post-war Japan. The LDP fashioned the post-war economic order of Japan on the basis of free market economy and achieved great success in making Japan the second-largest economy in the world, after the United States. But Japan has been in economic downswing since the early 1990s, its economy is projected to contract 06.0 per cent this year and is on the verge of losing its position as the second-largest economy in the world to China. The DPJ campaigned on the pledge to reverse this generation-long economic decline and also to reform Japan's existing economic system. The Japanese people, dissatisfied with the failure of the LDP to bring back health to the economy, voted overwhelmingly in favour of change.
It is too early to say what new course the Japanese economy will take under the incoming DPJ government. The DPJ president, Yukio Hatoyama, is likely to be appointed the 93rd prime minister in a special Diet session to open in the week starting September 14. The presumptive prime minister, a former management professor, is highly critical of American-style capitalism which, he thinks, is "void of morals or moderation." In a syndicated opinion article which was recently carried also by the online edition of the New York Times, Hatoyama opined, "The recent economic crisis resulted from a way of thinking based on the idea that American-style free-market economics represents a universal and ideal economic order." This should not, however, be interpreted as a signal that Japan is on the way of a radical restructuring of its economy. What is likely is that the new government will seek to strengthen the economic and fiscal regulation regime. The new government's top priority will obviously be "to steer Japan towards sustained economic recovery" and address the unemployment issue. The DPJ has already announced a 16.8 trillion yen investment programme and a plan to strengthen the social safety net. The DPJ has not yet presented a comprehensive economic strategy but in the context of Japan, it is a big departure from the past that the government wants to play a big role in the economy.
Besides the economic issue, the DPJ highlighted three other subjects during the election campaign. First, the US-Japan alliance will "continue to be the cornerstone of Japanese diplomatic policy" but the DPJ wants to upgrade the traditional subservient relation of Japan with America to one of "equal partnership." The election manifesto also calls for a "reconsidering" of the 50,000-strong American military presence in Japan. Secondly, Hatoyama is opposed to American-dominated globalisation and strongly advocates the need to "reorient Japan toward Asia". This is a good news for Bangladesh; Japan is our biggest bilateral donor country. Thirdly, the DPJ campaigned in favour of ending the hegemony of the central government bureaucrats in the decision-making process and give the politicians the initiative. This will be a fundamental reform in the domestic policy of Japan.
The kind of mandate the Japanese voters gave to the DPJ to bring fundamental changes in the domestic and foreign policies is extraordinary. According to Hatoyama, "This has been a revolutionary election. The people have shown the courage to take politics into their own hands." The future Japanese prime minister has truly captured the historical significance of the event.
It is too early to say what new course the Japanese economy will take under the incoming DPJ government. The DPJ president, Yukio Hatoyama, is likely to be appointed the 93rd prime minister in a special Diet session to open in the week starting September 14. The presumptive prime minister, a former management professor, is highly critical of American-style capitalism which, he thinks, is "void of morals or moderation." In a syndicated opinion article which was recently carried also by the online edition of the New York Times, Hatoyama opined, "The recent economic crisis resulted from a way of thinking based on the idea that American-style free-market economics represents a universal and ideal economic order." This should not, however, be interpreted as a signal that Japan is on the way of a radical restructuring of its economy. What is likely is that the new government will seek to strengthen the economic and fiscal regulation regime. The new government's top priority will obviously be "to steer Japan towards sustained economic recovery" and address the unemployment issue. The DPJ has already announced a 16.8 trillion yen investment programme and a plan to strengthen the social safety net. The DPJ has not yet presented a comprehensive economic strategy but in the context of Japan, it is a big departure from the past that the government wants to play a big role in the economy.
Besides the economic issue, the DPJ highlighted three other subjects during the election campaign. First, the US-Japan alliance will "continue to be the cornerstone of Japanese diplomatic policy" but the DPJ wants to upgrade the traditional subservient relation of Japan with America to one of "equal partnership." The election manifesto also calls for a "reconsidering" of the 50,000-strong American military presence in Japan. Secondly, Hatoyama is opposed to American-dominated globalisation and strongly advocates the need to "reorient Japan toward Asia". This is a good news for Bangladesh; Japan is our biggest bilateral donor country. Thirdly, the DPJ campaigned in favour of ending the hegemony of the central government bureaucrats in the decision-making process and give the politicians the initiative. This will be a fundamental reform in the domestic policy of Japan.
The kind of mandate the Japanese voters gave to the DPJ to bring fundamental changes in the domestic and foreign policies is extraordinary. According to Hatoyama, "This has been a revolutionary election. The people have shown the courage to take politics into their own hands." The future Japanese prime minister has truly captured the historical significance of the event.