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Japan

Feb 1, 2012

SPEAKING FREELY
Time for Japanese opposition to stand tall
By Brad Williams

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.

The president of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, Tanigaki Sadakazu, recently vowed to force the ruling Democratic Party to dissolve the Lower House as early as possible in a bid to hold a snap election that is hoped will return the former perennial ruling

party to power. Tanigaki's gambit has come amid heated debates in Japan regarding social security and tax reforms.

The LDP leader is particularly incensed by the government's approval of a draft plan to raise the consumption tax to 8% in 2014 and then to 10% the following year to cover ballooning social security costs - the product of Japan's aging population. This draft plan contradicts a pledge made in the Democratic Party's 2009 election manifesto not to raise this tax. Sensing an opportunity to drive the embattled Noda administration into a corner, the LDP and its coalition partner have rejected government calls for much-needed talks on a grand reform plan before the bill is submitted to the parliament in March.

While one may debate the merits of raising taxes in a depressed economy, the LDP refusal to discuss reforms with the government smacks of hypocrisy; the party also favors doubling the consumption tax, just as the government now does.

Tanigaki's recent move is just one of a series of attempts at petty obtructionism and political point scoring on the part of the LDP, whose hand was unexpectedly strengthened after a tax-related verbal gaffe by then-Prime Minister Kan Naoto in the lead up to elections in July 2010 deprived the ruling coalition of a majority in the Upper House, resulting in a ''twisted Diet" and policy gridlock. The LDP introduced a no-confidence motion in Kan in June last year and then refused to participate in parliamentary deliberations following the censuring of two ministers, forcing a cabinet reshuffle.

In refusing to discuss social security and tax reform, the LDP risks overplaying its hand. Indeed, the most recent gambit has drawn sharp criticism from various quarters including the nation's top business lobby, Keidanren - a close partner during the period of conservative rule and economic growth, political leaders from the devastated Tohoku region and even from within the LDP itself.

With the country mired in a deep socioeconomic malaise and still struggling to recover from the triple disaster of March 11 last year, Japan urgently requires leadership from both sides of the political divide. As an opposition party with hopes of governing again, the LDP ought to be offering plausible policy suggestions to ease the country's longstanding woes and vigorously debating the merits of these before the Japanese public, and not engaging in mindless and petty politicking.

Dr Brad Williams is a Visiting Assistant Professor who teaches international relations and comparative politics in the Department of Asian & International Studies, City University of Hong Kong.

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. Articles submitted for this section allow our readers to express their opinions and do not necessarily meet the same editorial standards of Asia Times Online's regular contributors.

(Copyright 2012 Brad Williams).

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