TOKYO - Candidates for the upper house of Japan’s parliament made final campaign pushes Saturday, a day before elections that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition is expected to easily win as the economy picks up steam.
A victory today would give Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and junior partner New Komeito control of both houses of parliament - an elusive goal for the government in recent years - making it easier to pass legislation at a time when Japan faces structural challenges, including a rapidly graying population and a bulging national debt.
Reviving the long-stagnant economy is the top priority for voters, and Abe agrees. Aggressive monetary easing and public works spending - the first two “arrows” of his three-pronged “Abenomics” economic program - has borne some fruit, lifting the stock market, boosting business confidence and easing pressure on Japan’s vital exporters by weakening the yen.
“We are now doubtlessly on the verge of economic recovery where the money flow becomes cyclical inside society. This is the only way to go. That is why we cannot lose this election,” Abe said during a rally Saturday.
Major economic challenges lie ahead, includingAbe’s promises to carry out economic changes aimed at increasing Japan’s competitiveness - the third “arrow” - and a decision this fall on whether to follow through on raising the sales tax next April from 5 percent to 8 percent - a move some warn will derail the fledgling recovery.
A convincing victory in today’s election, where half the 242 seats in the less powerful upper house of the parliament are up for grabs, also may embolden Abe and his backers in the Liberal Democratic Party to pursue a nationalistic agenda he had abandoned his first time in office in 2006-07.
Abe and others in the Liberal Democratic Party have said they would like to revisethe country’s pacifist constitution, drafted by the United States after World War II, to give Japan’s military a larger role and make changes to the education system to instill more patriotism in students.
Under the campaign slogan “Recover Japan,” the Liberal Democratic Party promises to make Japan a muscular, gentle and proud country.
It calls for a strong economy, strategic diplomacy and unshakable national security under the Japan-U.S. alliance, which allows for 50,000 American troops to be stationed in Japan.
“I promise you that we will resolutely protect our territory and our beautiful ocean,” Abe said at a campaign stop.
That message has resonated with some voters worried about tensions over territorial disputes with China and South Korea and widespread distrust of an increasingly assertive China.
Perhaps the most significant revision proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party is relaxing the constitution’s war-renouncing Article 9, which bans the use of force in international disputes except for self-defense.
A revision could open the way for Japan to have fullfledged armed forces and make territorial protection a public duty.
Surveys show that the public is most concerned about the economy, social security,the sales tax increase and reconstruction after the March 2011 tsunami.
Two-and-a-half years after that disaster, very little rebuilding has begun along the battered northeastern coastline.
Public support for changing the constitution ranks lower.
Energy issues such as nuclear power are less important to voters, polls show. Despite considerable public opposition to nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, many voters appear to be willing to support the pro-nuclear Liberal Democratic Party because they are attaching a higher priority on economic and security issues.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 07/21/2013