WORLD> Analysis
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WORLD> Analysis
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Big DPJ win may kick-start parliament
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-28 08:12 Deadlock end welcome Investors in Japan's stock market would generally welcome an end to the parliamentary deadlock, but share prices may already have factored in a Democratic Party win.
The Asahi said some 30-40 percent of voters had not revealed their preference so the results could alter, and analysts have said forecasts of a landslide could scare away some voters. But analysts said the tide was unlikely to turn in the LDP's favor at this late stage. "It is not a situation where undecided voters would rush to vote for the LDP, as they still have negative feelings about Mr. Aso and the party. The LDP has yet to send out a message that could revive itself," Kawakami said. Democratic Party leaders have warned against complacency, and party leader Hatoyama sought to reassure voters that the party would not abuse its power if it wins big. "If we take power, we will of course create a government that takes account of your feelings... so please don't worry," Hatoyama said in a campaign speech on Wednesday. The LDP and its junior coalition partner won a two-thirds majority in the lower house in 2005, when then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi led his conservative party to a huge victory on a platform pledging market-friendly reforms. That allowed them to override the opposition-controlled upper house, but the process is time-consuming and faced criticism as steam-roller politics.
It would probably increase the clout of former party leader Ichiro Ozawa, who stepped down over a funding scandal in May but has been credited with engineering much of the expected win. Hatoyama has faced criticism for seeming to be under his thumb. Struggling Prime Minister Aso, who has attacked the Democrats as weak on security and fuzzy on how to fund its spending programs, sought to highlight the risk of change. "Politics is not gambling," he told a crowd this week. Reuters
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