Earlier this week, Masuzoe Yoichi, health minister, suggested that a snap election may be possible within the year, fueling speculation of an imminent dissolution of the Diet as a result of parliamentary deadlock.He was promptly reprimanded by Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura, who clarified that it is the prime minister's responsibility — the prime minister's alone …
Tag: Japanese politics
Ambassador Schieffer again
Just in case the LDP was unclear on US desires, Ambassador Schieffer said in a meeting with Foreign Minister Komura, "We desire the continuation of the MSDF's activities."The discussion appears to have been part of routine meeting on the foreign policy agenda in advance of Prime Minister Fukuda's visit to Washington next month, and so …
The one-year limit
In a must-read discussion of the "burden" of the governing coalition's supermajority in the House of Representatives, MTC argues of the LDP's concession to Komeito on the one-year time limit on the new anti-terror law, "This concession...makes not the least bit of sense. Abbreviating the renewal's tenure guarantees that the country will be witnessing exactly …
Will a reprimand placate the DPJ?
Yamaoka Kenji and Ooshima Tadamori, the DPJ and LDP Diet strategy chairman respectively, met on Tuesday to discuss Nakatani Gen's absurd smear of opponents of the refueling mission as "terrorists."Mr. Yamaoka reportedly demanded that Mr. Nakatani be removed from his post as director of the House of Representatives special anti-terrorism committee.Mr. Ooshima's response was, I …
Thrust and parry on Afghanistan
Prime Minister Fukuda and members of his cabinet were grilled in Upper House Budget Committee deliberations on Monday, and continued their defense of Japan's participation in coalition activities in the Indian Ocean on grounds of Japan's obligations to the international community as the second largest economic power.The sparring in the Upper House this week comes …
Nakatani gives a gift, but to whom?
On Fuji Television on Sunday, Nakatani Gen, a former head of the (then) Japan Defense Agency (JDA), borrowed from George W. Bush and said, "Those who are opposed to this [the MSDF refueling mission] are nothing but terrorists." (Of course, not having watched the program, I'm forced to rely on newspaper accounts, such as this …
Is Japan on the brink of a new foreign policy debate?
With another week of budget committee deliberations and thus another week before the Fukuda Cabinet officially decides to proceed with a new bill authorizing the MSDF refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, Mainichi reports that the government is striving to build upon the public support it has already gained, as shown in numerous public opinion …
Continue reading Is Japan on the brink of a new foreign policy debate?
The coming factional realignment?
The constant churning within the LDP discussed in this post appears to be proceeding apace, with the Koga and Tanigaki factions — the splinters of the former Kochikai, which broke following the aborted Kato rebellion in 2000 — in discussions to reunite by the spring, in time for the next election.The Kochikai began life as …
The last days of Abe Shinzo
For a look at how illusory the LDP's purported post-Fukuda unity is, Bungei Shunju has an article called "Shinzo Abe: The truth of the last three days." (It's published in four parts at Yahoo's Minna no seiji site: one, two, three, and four.)There aren't too many surprises in the article: Aso Taro laughed in Fukuda …
Damn the DPJ, full speed ahead!
The Fukuda Cabinet has announced a schedule for the passage of a new law enabling the MSDF's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. A final cabinet decision will be made on October 17th, following the conclusion of deliberations in the Upper House Budget committee, and the new bill will be introduced for deliberation to the …
Tobias S. Harris 