JAPAN: Abe's ruling coalition faces tough elections
Updated
Japan's government has vowed that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will not resign, no matter how poorly the ruling coalition fares in Sunday's parliamentary elections. After just 10 months in office, Mr Abe's personal approval rating has plummeted to just 30 percent. But chief government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki, has said upper house elections aren't the occasion to choose a new administration. His statement comes amid widespread media speculation that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will suffer big losses. But regardless of Sunday's results, Prime Minister Abe is likely to remain as leader, because only the Lower House can decide his fate.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Yoshio Sugimoto, Professor Emeritus at LaTrobe University
SUGIMOTO: Well most importantly the electorate is quite frustrated and infuriated over the successive revelations that more than 50-million records of individual patient payments over the last few decades are missing from the files of the Social Insurance Agency. Despite the gravity of the issue the general public perception is that the Abe administration has not acted sufficiently, promptly and satisfactorily, and also generally speaking he put inexperienced parliamentarians to key cabinet posts because they have been ideologically close to him. A few cabinet members had to either quit their posts or make public apologies over their questionable use of public political funds, and also over their slips of the tongue.
LAM: And Professor what are some of the issues for Sunday's upper house elections?
SUGIMOTO: Well one of the biggest issues is the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. The LDP's political scandals have also affected the election.
LAM: And indeed Sunday's elections are seen by many as a kind of de facto report card on Shinzo Abe and his government. Observers say that Prime Minister Abe has failed to win over non-affiliated voters unlike his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi. So are Japanese voters always making such comparisons between leaders?
SUGIMOTO: Yes the shadow of Mr Koizumi has been over Abe and will be during his regime. On the other hand Abe is young, suave and quite eloquent and he did have a potential to be a popular leader. In fact he acquired the LDP's top post as a leader most palatable to the general electorate. However he's often seen as a man of rather superficial ideology rather than a man of substance. For example he often refers to his slogan that Japan should be a beautiful nation, though few understand what it means.
