Decline of Support from Party

After sweeping victory in the last election of House of Representatives, political power of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which had once seemed to be invincible, looks like declining. Young leaders in Liberal Democratic Party are frustrated with unilateral leadership of Abe administration, controlled by Abe’s close allies and bureaucrats. Power balance between Abe Cabinet and the leading party is changing.

It is usual for an administration to have an extraordinary session to discuss supplementary budget for economic stimulation or other issues every fall. Abe did not want to have the session this fall, because negative impact of discussion on Moritomo and Kake scandal seemed to be bigger than positive element of promoting his political agenda. So, he supposed to close the Special Session after the election, which is required by the Constitution to elect or reelect Prime Minister, in a few days as usual.

They were senior leaders in LDP who proposed saving certain period of time for discussing political issues including Abe’s scandal, not to be doubted as escaping from the issues the people were interested in. There is a fundamental skepticism on Abe’s leadership in the party. Main reason of the victory in the election was not popularity of Abe, but failure of the opposite parties to form integrated power. Weakness of LDP was actually proved in the election of Tokyo Metropolitan Congress this summer, in which LDP experienced bitter defeat against a new party called Tokyoite First.

Young leaders in LDP began to raise their voices. Chairman of Health, Labor and Welfare Division in LDP Policy Research Council, Gaku Hashimoto, a son of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, straightforwardly criticized the party platform for the last election that had been made against the decision of his division. “This division is needless, if our party would pick a policy that we concluded to oppose,” said Hashimoto after the election.

A son of another Japanese Prime Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, was disappointed to Abe’s negotiation with Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, for financial support for the policy of education for free over the head of LDP. “LDP has heard or discussed nothing. If the things are going like that, LDP will be needless,” said Koizumi. What those young leaders are saying is not that LDP is needless, but the leadership of Abe is needless.

One of the candidates for the successor of Abe, Fumio Kishida, Chairman of LDP Policy Research Council, protested to a staff of Abe on the governmental decision on Human Resources Development before the discussion in the party. Chairman of LDP General Council, Wataru Takeshita, encouraged former Minister of Derense Shigeru Ishiba running for LDP presidential election next year. Dynamism in LDP is changing as Abe’s popularity is declining.