CIAO DATE: 01/04

A Bittersweet Win For Mr. Koizumi

Brad Glosserman

The PacNet Newsletter 2003
November 10, 2003

The Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

Abstract

TOKYO – In the end, the weather just wasn't bad enough. Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has dominated politics since 1955, claimed victory in Sunday's national election as it and its coalition partners took a comfortable majority in the Diet. Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's celebrations have been muted, however: The LDP's failure to win an outright majority in the lower house will embolden obstructionists within his own party who oppose his reform agenda.

But if Mr. Koizumi is genuinely concerned about his country's future—and not just that of his party—then he will applaud Japan's march toward a two-party political system, which promises more focused policy debates and sharper choices for voters.

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