Japanese voters gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party control of the upper house of parliament in an election Sunday, meaning that for the first time in six years the LDP will have control of both chambers. The question is, how will Mr. Abe make use of this opportunity?
Mr. Abe has said that he needed control of the upper house to implement deeper reforms. His advisers have said that he will take advantage of the end of the “twisted parliament,” as Japanese call divided government, by promoting structural changes, including to thelabor market and the farming sector. Many economists view these as essential to sustaining growth, especially as Japan’s population ages and declines, but deeply entrenched interests will resist.
In addition, Mr. Abe is likely to push to restart many of the nuclear reactors that were shut after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami. And he will seek to reinterpret Japan’s “peace constitution” to allow its military to engage not only in self-defense but also in collective self-defense-to come to the aid of a U.S. ship, say, if it is attacked by North Korea.
Editorial, Pages 10 on 07/23/2013