(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in Japan would like to see the opposition party rise to power, according to a poll by Yomiuri. 65 per cent of respondents are prepared to see the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in government, while 31 per cent are not.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in Japan would like to see the opposition party rise to power, according to a poll by Yomiuri. 65 per cent of respondents are prepared to see the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in government, while 31 per cent are not.
Aside from a brief period in the 1990s, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has administered Japan’s government for more than five decades. An election to renew half of the House of Councillors seats took place in July 2007. Final results gave the opposition DPJ 60 of the 121 seats at stake, with the governing LDP winning 37 mandates. The opposition—with 137 seats—now holds a majority in the upper house of Japan’s Diet for the first time since the LDP was founded in 1955.
Since the retirement of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan has had three different LDP leaders and prime ministers. Shinzo Abe served from September 2006 to September 2007, and was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda.
On Sept. 1, Fukuda announced he would step down as he felt "swamped" by the country’s issues. Foreign minister Aso won an internal leadership ballot and was sworn in as Japan’s new prime minister on Sept. 24.
Since last year, defaults on so-called subprime mortgages—credit given to high-risk borrowers—in the United States have caused volatility in domestic and global financial markets and pushed the U.S. economy into a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The crisis has affected the global financial and credit systems.
Japan—the world’s second largest economy—has been hit hard by the crisis. On Dec. 12, Aso announced a second stimulus package to boost the economy that will represent a total government expense of $110 billion U.S. The plan—coupled with the previous package introduced in October—has not been approved for funding in the legislature yet. Aso said that his government "wants to ease the public’s anxiety and take measures to end the recession earlier than other industrialized nations."
Polling Data
At this point, are you ready to see the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in government?
|
Yes |
65% |
|
No |
31% |
Source: Yomiuri
Methodology: Interviews with 1,747 Japanese adults, conducted on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2008. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.
