(゜Д゜)人(゜Д゜)英字新聞

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LDP should conduct intense policy debates

Several Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers have expressed their intention to run in the forthcoming party presidential race to select the successor to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, thus setting the stage for fierce battles over policy issues.
The lawmakers intending to enter the race include LDP Secretary General Taro Aso; Kaoru Yosano, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy; Nobuteru Ishihara, former chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council; and former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike.
They should hold intense debates over pressing policy issues in both the domestic and international arenas.
Last year's party presidential election, held following the sudden resignation of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was a one-on-one battle between Fukuda and Aso. The tide of the battle was determined at an early stage as eight of the party's nine factions sided with Fukuda. But this time, the situation is quite different, as many LDP lawmakers, including junior members, intend to throw their hats in the ring. Why?
The last two prime ministers announced their resignations out of the blue, before their terms as LDP president ended. This is an unusual state of affairs.
LDP lawmakers doubtless are very concerned that it will be difficult to restore the party's strength unless it can display vigor by making the upcoming party race an impressive one in which many candidates run.
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Spirited discussions in store
It is expected that the House of Representatives will be dissolved and a general election held sometime in the near future. The LDP would then face a showdown with the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party. In the upcoming DPJ presidential election, Ichiro Ozawa is set to be reelected unopposed for a third term. The LDP apparently made a strategic decision to hold its own party presidential race at the same time as the DPJ's to draw public attention away from its rival.
We wonder if the LDP's race will go as planned.
A key factor for the success of the party's race will be whether candidates have quality policy debates.
Judging from the lineup of expected candidates--Aso and several others, including Yosano and Ishihara, both of whom are well versed in policy matters--policy debates during the campaign likely will be heated.
In such debates, major points of contention will include what should be retained from the structural reform efforts carried out under the administration of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and what should be discarded.
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Bitter pills swallowed in past
Having discussions on these points surely will be meaningful. But the Koizumi administration's reform efforts were limited to one-off policy issues, including the privatization of postal services. Such issues as to what extent the consumption tax rate should be raised to secure the nation's pension system in the long run remained untouched.
In the June issue of the Bungei Shunju monthly magazine, Aso and Yosano outlined their view that the LDP should recall the party's history of having carried out responsible policies, although it has sometimes faced temporary public opposition when it did so. They mention the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and the introduction of the consumption tax as cases in point.
What we want to see in the presidential race is the LDP, as the main party in power, holding straightforward discussions on "big-boned" policies concerning state management.
Fukuda was criticized for his inability to explain policies and send strong messages to the public. During the LDP election campaign, candidates should also compete with each other to demonstrate those abilities, which are essential for the nation's leader, on such occasions as joint speech meetings.

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