JAPAN: POLITICS - New Prime Minister Naoto Kan makes a last-minute appeal to voters ahead of Sunday's elections

Record ID: 345525

  • Title: JAPAN: POLITICS - New Prime Minister Naoto Kan makes a last-minute appeal to voters ahead of Sunday's elections
  • Date: 11th July 2010
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 10, 2010) (REUTERS) TOKYO'S KICHIJOJI DISTRICT PRIME MINISTER NAOTO KAN ARRIVING TO GIVE SPEECH DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN (DPJ) CAMPAIGN VAN AUDIENCE PHOTOGRAPHER SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PRIME MINISTER NAOTO KAN, SAYING: "We've made some mistakes in the past couple months but I would like to get on the right track and push ahead with a new way of doing politics. I would like to have your support." AUDIENCE APPLAUDING SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PRIME MINISTER NAOTO KAN, SAYING: "No country in the world can afford to help Japan, since we have such a big economy. In other words, Japan has to be responsible and be on its own to prevent our economy from collapsing." DEMOCRATIC PARTY FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) SHIGEKO SHINOHATA, VOTER, SAYING: "I think Kan is trying hard but I have yet to judge whether he's doing a good job or not." (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) MASANOBU YABE, VOTER, SAYING: "I work in construction and my life is tough because they cut down on the number of construction projects." SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TAKESHI TAKAHASHI, VOTER, SAYING: "I'm hoping the government to take action to offer more help in raising children and to rebuild our economy. The government should also lower corporate taxes to attract more foreign investment." KAN'S POSTER VARIOUS OF COMMUNIST PARTY CAMPAIGNER APPEALING TO VOTERS
  • Embargoed: 26th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1WK471G2SOGCJAKFI8TGSIXEQ
  • Story Text: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged voters to give his party a second chance in a weekend election that could deliver a sharp setback to his government, putting his job at risk and stalling efforts at fiscal reform.
    Sagging support for the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which surged to power for the first time just last year, jumped after Kan -- a former civic activist and Japan's fifth leader in three years -- replaced his indecisive predecessor last month.
    But ratings slipped after Kan floated the long taboo topic of raising the sales tax to curb a public debt close to twice the size of the nearly $5 trillion economy, and struggled to persuade voters he had a clear plan for fixing Japan's economic woes.
    Since then, Kan has stressed that no tax hike would occur before seeking a mandate in the next lower house poll, which must be held by late 2013, but argued that Japan could not put off painful choices if it wants to avoid a Greek-style debt crisis.
    "We've made some mistakes in the past couple months but I would like to get on the right track and push ahead with a new way of doing politics. I would like to have your support," Kan told a crowd of voters sweltering on Saturday under the hot sun in a popular shopping area of western Tokyo.
    Referring to a possible sales tax hike, Kan said: "No country in the world can afford to help Japan, since we have such a big economy. In other words, Japan has to be responsible and be on its own to prevent our economy from collapsing."
    Not all voters have been put off by the sales tax talk, and indeed, surveys have shown many think a rise is inevitable. But many others are having trouble finding a party to their taste, with surveys showing a hefty chunk are undecided.
    "I think Kan is trying hard but I have yet to judge whether he's doing a good job or not," said Shigeko Shinohata, a 44-year-old housewife.
    In an effort to reduce government spending Kan cut back on a number of government-funded projects, leaving some voters weary.
    "I work in construction and my life is tough now because they cut down on the number of construction projects," said Masanobu Yabe, a 62-year-old construction worker.
    "I'm hoping the government to take action to offer more help in raising children and to rebuild our economy," said Takeshi Takahashi, who has a 14-month-old baby girl. "The government should also lower corporate taxes to attract more foreign investment."
    The DPJ, which ousted its long-dominant rival last year with pledges to cut waste, end bureaucrats' control over policymaking and spend more on consumers to boost growth, will almost certainly run the government whatever the outcome of Sunday's vote because it controls the powerful lower house.
    But the party needs a majority in the upper chamber to avoid policy deadlock and begin taking steps to reduce a public debt that is the worst among advanced countries.
    "This is a chance for you to grade the Democrats' government during the last 10 months, and judge if the Liberal Democratic Party can be awarded a second chance," said opposition leader Sadakazu Tanigaki, head of the Liberal Democratic Party, during a recent campaign speech.
    Media surveys this week showed the DPJ would likely win around 50 or even fewer of the 121 seats up for grabs in the 242-member chamber -- well short of Kan's target of keeping all 54 seats the Democrats have up for re-election.
    That would deprive the DPJ and its tiny coalition partner, the pro-spending People's New Party, of a majority in the upper house. The Democrats would be forced to seek new allies, complicating the government's ability to forge ahead with the fiscal reform that Kan has put at the heart of his campaign.
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