Economy will still be Japan's No 1 priority
Lex Zhao says the state of the Japanese economy was the most important consideration in the DPJ's election loss, and it will remain the key in politics, even under the rule of 'right-wing' LDP
So the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), led by Yoshihiko Noda, was defeated by a landslide only three years after it had won by a landslide over the Liberal Democratic Party. When presidents of other countries usually emerge as heroes in the face of disaster, you may well wonder how, in Japan, incumbent leaders often end up total losers.
Perhaps the DPJ deserved the defeat, because it is not the same party that took over power three years ago. In 2009, voters were frustrated with the LDP's long dominance, so they gave power to the DPJ in hopes that its pledges to listen to individuals rather than big companies, and to run the country through politicians, not elite bureaucrats, would come true.
However, exuberance caused the DPJ's anxious leaders to make at least four consecutive fatal errors. One, quick attempts to distance Japan from US dominance on foreign policy and to move a US military base away from Futenma eventually resulted in the ousting of the first DPJ prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama.
Two, poor handling of the nuclear meltdown incident after last year's earthquake and tsunami forced then prime minister Naoto Kan to step down.
Three, Noda's move to double sales tax from 5 to 10 per cent by 2015 clearly violated campaign pledges and caused heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa and some 50 other lawmakers to break from the DPJ. By then, the core of the DPJ had changed from idealistic, pacifist lawmakers to a group consisting of former LDP dissidents and young conservatives such as Seiji Maehara.
Four, the DPJ's attempt in 2009 to befriend China fell into a trap and turned into showdowns over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands when then Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara proposed to buy three of the islands. The move devastated economic ties with China, Japan's biggest trading partner. Both sides probably ended up bleeding equally badly.
Even LDP chief Shinzo Abe admitted his victory reflected "no" votes to the DPJ's politics over the past three years.