- Title: JAPAN: Party leaders make final speeches ahead of parliamentary poll
- Date: 15th December 2012
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (DECEMBER 15, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER SHINZO ABE WALKING VARIOUS OF ABE WALKING UP TO CAMPAIGN VAN AND STANDING ON TOP OF VAN WITH FORMER PRIME MINISTER TARO ASO (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER SHINZO ABE SAYING: "We will protect the beautiful waters around the Senkaku islands with our own hands. Isn't it right that we show our will?" VARIOUS OF CROWD WAVING JAPANESE FLAG ABE STANDING ON CAMPAIGN TRUCK. LDP SYMBOL (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER SHINZO ABE SAYING: "Let's take back our Japan which our children will feel proud of and which all Japanese will feel happy with." VARIOUS OF ABE PUNCHING THE AIR ABE GETTING INTO CAR AND DRIVING AWAY DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN CAMPAIGN VAN POLICE OFFICER ON DUTY (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN AND HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN YOSHIHIKO NODA SAYING: "A lot has happened to our party. But amidst headwinds, we are bravely standing before you and telling you what we believe with conviction. We have certainly become a lean party." VARIOUS OF CROWD SHOUTING: "We are against restarting (of the nuclear reactors)!" (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN AND HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN YOSHIHIKO NODA SAYING: "We are only half-way through our reforms. But we have struggled and fought tooth-and-nail to break free from 'The Lost 20 years.' We have to move forward. We cannot go back to the time where we were in the middle of 'The Lost 20 years.' To avoid that, please vote for the Democratic Party of Japan one more time, give us a chance and we will give it our all for you." CAMPAIGN VAN WITH WORDS IN JAPANESE READING: "DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN" NODA WALKING OFF SHINTARO ISHIHARA STANDING ON TOP OF CAMPAIGN VAN ABOUT TO MAKE A SPEECH IN FRONT OF CROWD IN SHINJUKU PORTRAIT OF ISHIHARA PEOPLE WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPAN RESTORATION PARTY LEADER SHINTARO ISHIHARA SAYING: "If we have the will, Japan will rise again. We have the strength, I am telling you. Let's do it. We will be utterly devoted to making this happen. Let's gather our strength and restore this country anew. If not, this country will sink." ISHIHARA ADDRESSING SUPPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPAN RESTORATION PARTY LEADER SHINTARO ISHIHARA SAYING: "I absolutely cannot bear to see this country become a vassal state to China, like Tibet is right now. I loathe this thought for the sake of my children, my grandson and my descendants. If we don't restore this country, we might just become a vassal state to some other country. We will not be able to face our descendants if this happens. So I want everybody to think with their own minds about what this country needs." PEOPLE WATCHING ISHIHARA WALKING OFF
- Embargoed: 30th December 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAB6Y355H9TGGJICBBBFPUFSSD4
- Story Text: Japanese candidates made final appeals on Saturday (December 15) ahead of an election expected to restore the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power and give hawkish former premier Shinzo Abe a second term in office after years in opposition.
"We will protect the beautiful waters around the Senkaku islands with our own hands. Isn't it right that we show our will?" Abe told supporters, referring to a territorial dispute with China over tiny islands in the East China Sea.
An LDP win on Sunday would usher in a government committed to a firm stance in the territorial row, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite last year's Fukushima disaster and a radical prescription for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and tame a strong yen.
"Let's take back our Japan which our children will feel proud of and which all Japanese will feel happy with," Abe said.
Meanwhile, prime minister Yoshihiko Noda made a last-ditch effort to save the jobs of as many Democratic Party of Japan politicians as possible.
The DPJ swept to power in 2009 to end more than 50 years of almost non-stop rule by the LDP.
But their support has slumped over what voters see as broken promises, a confused response to last year's tsunami and nuclear crisis and Noda's embrace of unpopular causes such as a tax hike and the restarting of nuclear reactors.
"A lot has happened to our party. But amidst headwinds, we are bravely standing before you and telling you what we believe with conviction. We have certainly become a lean party," he told a crowd.
Those listening chanted anti-nuclear slogans as the prime minister spoke.
Surveys show the ruling DPJ is likely end up with fewer than 100 seats, less than a third of its showing three years ago. With Japan's economy stuck in the doldrums for decades, and big corporate brands such as Sony faltering, many feel "Japan Inc" has become a synonym for decline.
"We are only half-way through our reforms. But we have struggled and fought tooth-and-nail to break free from 'The Lost 20 years.' We have to move forward. We cannot go back to the time where we were in the middle of 'The Lost 20 years.' To avoid that, please vote for the Democratic Party of Japan one more time, give us a chance and we will give it our all for you," said Noda.
Voter distaste for both major parties has spawned a clutch of new parties including the right-leaning Japan Restoration Party, founded by popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and led by Shintaro Ishihara.
On Saturday, the octogenarian nationalist made his final push in front of Japan's busiest train station, Shinjuku.
"If we have the will, Japan will rise again. We have the strength, I am telling you. Let's do it. We will be utterly devoted to making this happen. Let's gather our strength and restore this country anew. If not, this country will sink," he said.
He said Japan had to act urgently to restore its regional status.
"I absolutely cannot bear to see this country become a vassal state to China, like Tibet is right now. I loathe this thought for the sake of my children, my grandson and my descendants. If we don't restore this country, we might just become a vassal state to some other country. We will not be able to face our descendants if this happens. So I want everybody to think with their own minds about what this country needs," Ishihara told the crowds.
Media surveys suggest the LDP will win a big majority in parliament's powerful 480-seat lower house, just three years after a crushing defeat that ended more than 50 years of almost non-stop rule by the business-friendly party, although many people were undecided in surveys just days before the vote. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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