Editorial
Political earthquake in Japan
The economy will test Hatoyama's government
The emergence of the Democratic Party of Japan as the country's new ruling party is but a normal happening in democratic politics. And yet the defeat of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is in a very important sense an earthquake for the people of Japan. The reasons are quite a few. In the first place, a long-entrenched party like the LDP (it has governed since 1955 with a slight break) now finds itself repudiated by the electorate in a decisive manner. In the second, the DPJ has not only won the elections but has won them with a landslide. In the second (and this is crucial), the Japanese electorate has sent out the message that a government which cannot get the economy moving does not deserve to be in office.
It is clear, therefore, that the Japanese were driven by thoughts of their economic well-being as they voted at the elections. Where the LDP is concerned, it was quite clear even before voting began that it had lost the zest to fight on and so live another day. One could easily blame Mr. Taro Aso for having led the party to such a miserable defeat. But when one reflects on the gradual decline the LDP has been going through under a series of revolving-door prime ministers (Junichiro Koizumi seems to be the only one able to capture the popular imagination), one really cannot be too harsh on the outgoing prime minister. Indeed, he has demonstrated a remarkable degree of grace and humility in defeat by acknowledging the flaws that led to the rejection of his party at the polls. In any case, however, it was a lost cause for Taro Aso even before the voting began. The recession had already taken its toll, with little sign that the government would be able to roll it back any time soon. For Japanese, accustomed as they have been to economic stability and a feeling that their country was a force to be reckoned with on a global scale, the economic downslide was but a premonition of panic.
The triumphant DPJ has justifiably been jubilant. To push a mighty power machine, which the LDP has been, over the brink is no mean achievement. But now comes the hardest job of all. The DPJ leader, Yukio Hatoyama, must show Japan and the outside world that he and his team will be as effective in government as they have been in convincing Japan's voters that they need to be the government. Hatoyama and his colleagues are untested in administration. That may not be a grave problem. But it is the recession which will test the new government's resolve and effectiveness. It will need all the luck it can muster.
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