(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many people in Japan would like the new leader of the Official Opposition to become the country’s next prime minister, according to a poll by Kyodo News. 43.6 per cent of respondents choose Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as the most apt leader to head the government.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many people in Japan would like the new leader of the Official Opposition to become the country’s next prime minister, according to a poll by Kyodo News. 43.6 per cent of respondents choose Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as the most apt leader to head the government.
Incumbent Taro Aso of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is second with 32 per cent. 24.4 per cent of respondents cannot pick either leader, or remain undecided.
Aside from a brief period in the 1990s, the 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. In September 2008, 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 May 13, Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the opposition DPJ, tendered his resignation over a fund-raising scandal. On that same day, deputy chief cabinet secretary Yoshitada Konoike—a close aide to Aso—stepped down after a news publication revealed that he took his mistress on a holiday using an official rail travel pass.
On May 16, Hatoyama defeated Katsuya Okada in an internal ballot of DPJ lawmakers to become the new DPJ leader.
On May 20, Hatoyama justified his decision to keep Ozawa deputy leader, saying, "We only have a few months to go before the general election. Large movements within the party are undesirable."
The next election to the House of Representatives must be held on or before Sept. 6, 2009. Sitting prime ministers can dissolve the Diet and call an early ballot at their discretion.
Polling Data
Who would you prefer as prime minister?
|
Yukio Hatoyama (DPJ) |
43.6% |
|
Taro Aso (LDP) |
32.0% |
|
Other / Not sure |
24.4% |
Source: Kyodo News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,026 Japanese adults, conducted on May 16 and May 17, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
