Japan Swings To The Left

In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power since 1955 (except for an 11-month period in the mid-90's when a short-lived 8-party coalition formed a government and then fell apart).   They have never been out-polled by a single party before -- until last weekend.

Although they were called the Liberal Democrats, they were actually the conservatives of Japan's political structure (the equivalent of the U.S.'s Republican Party).   They supported the corporations and business interests.

The other major political party in Japan is the Democratic Party (DP), and is made up of progressives and socialists.   It is to the left of the LDP.   In the last parliament, the DP had only 112 seats to the 300 seats of the LDP.   But last weekend's election has flipped the power structure.   The DP is winning more than 300 seats, while the LDP will probably win around 100 seats.   The new prime minister will be DP leader Yukio Hatoyama (pictured).   

There are also two smaller parties who normally vote with the DP, giving them now a two-thirds majority.   This means they will be able to pass their agenda without needing votes from the LDP.

There were several things worrying Japanese voters.   One was a 5.7% unemployment rate -- a record for post-war Japan.   Job security is also not what it used to be, when many workers stayed with the same company all their lives, and the population is aging (there are fewer births and immigration is not encouraged).   And wages have stagnated, as the global recession has created less demand for Japanese exports.

The DP has offered some cures in the recent campaign.   In an effort to encourage more women to have babies, they propose to give a family $275 a month for each child to help offset child-rearing expenses.   They have also proposed free high school, toll-free highways, income support for farmers, monthly allowances for job trainees, an increased minimum wage and tax cuts.

It's hard to know yet whether the people like these proposals, or they were just sick of being ruled by one party for so long.   Most likely, it's a little of both.

The DP promises to remain a close ally of the United States, but I think we can expect them to be a little more independent of the United States than the LDP was.   They will be more likely to consider Japanese and Asian interests, and less likely to blindly follow where the U.S. leads.

This win by the left in Japan doesn't really surprise me.   As the global recession marches on, more and more countries are turning to the left for new leadership and a new direction.   Perhaps the one good thing to come out of the global recession will be to loosen the corporate stranglehold on many governments.