|
Abe win to boost
stability
AFP, TOKYO
Voters handed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a thumping victory in upper
house elections yesterday, exit polls showed, likely ushering in a new period of
stability for politically volatile Japan.
The projected victory means both chambers of the Japanese Diet will be under
government control, unblocking the bottleneck that has hampered the country¡¦s
last six short-term prime ministers in passing legislation.
The win would strengthen Abe¡¦s hand as he tries to push through painful
structural reforms aimed at dragging Japan out of two decades of economic
malaise.
¡§A majority of voters wanted politics that can make decisions, and wanted
stability in politics,¡¨ Masahiko Komura, vice president of Abe¡¦s Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP), told national broadcaster NHK.
NHK exit polls showed that the ruling party and its junior partner the New
Komeito Party claimed at least 71 of the 121 seats being contested and possibly
as many as 80.
Other television stations forecast a similar margin of victory.
There are 242 legislators in the upper house, serving six-year terms. Elections
are held for half of the seats every three years.
Since romping to power in December last year¡¦s vote for the more powerful lower
house, Abe has unleashed a wave of spending and pressured the Bank of Japan to
flood the market with easy money.
The moves ¡X the first two ¡§arrows¡¨ of a project dubbed ¡§Abenomics¡¨ ¡X sent the
yen plunging, to the delight of exporters, and the stock market soaring.
This, coupled with feel-good figures on GDP growth, powered 60 percent-plus
public approval ratings for the prime minister, whose disastrous first turn in
the top job has paled in the public mind.
The third arrow of Abe¡¦s policy program remains hazy, but is likely to include
corporate tax breaks, special business zones, plans to boost female
participation in the workplace and participation in a mooted free-trade area
that encircles the Pacific.
However, observers say reforms will be tough. Superannuated farmers tending tiny
plots make up a powerful lobby group that has already made clear its unease
about the extra competition being part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
would bring.
Pundits say a big public endorsement protects him from the powerful vested
interests inside the LDP that will agitate against the structural changes
economists agree the country badly needs.
LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba yesterday vowed the government would not be
distracted from reforms
Asked about the TPP, Ishiba said his party would not waver.
¡§We won an overwhelming victory after we made clear about our policy on the TPP,¡¨
he said.
Japan¡¦s opposition barely put up a fight in the election. The Democratic Party
of Japan remains in disarray after three years of confused governance were
capped with a drubbing in last year¡¦s poll.
|
