Analysis

Liberal Party Lacking Support in Big Cities 22 November 1999

The second Obuchi administration is getting off to a rocky start. Recent opinion polls have shown decreasing public support for the prime minister's newly formed coalition made up of the Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party, and New Komeito. Lack of support for this ruling coalition has been most apparent among voters in the big cities. Why has the Liberal Party struggled to attract more supporters? On the surface, the party has promoted innovative policies calling for a smaller government, open markets and greater deregulation. At first glance, one would consider these to be clearly defined ideas. However, many Liberal Party Diet members, starting with party leader Iciro Ozawa, were elected from rural regions and they have very close ties with local construction companies. Back in their home districts, these politicians talk about creating a smaller government and reviewing wasteful administrative practices, but never do they talk about doing away with funding for the public works projects that are so important to these areas. However, when talking with voters in the big cities, these same politicians have no qualms in espousing policies that make them appear to be reformers. The majority of the electorate in the big cities has grown very suspicious of such posturing. It has been said that funding for bullet train projects allotted during the creation of the first supplementary budget was in fact a concession by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party used to entice the Liberal Party into joining its coalition. Unfortunately, the only success to come out of this union so far has been the passage of a set of bills covering defense guidelines, while the scrambling for funds has remained as fierce as ever. The Liberal Party formed after the breakup of the New Frontier Party was not created by the coming together of politicians with shared ideologies and policy goals. The Liberal Party is home to politicians known for making statements embedded with nationalistic sentiment. One such example is the former Defense Agency Parliamentary Vice Minister Shingo Nishimura who was recently forced to resign his post after making suggestions that the country should arm itself with nuclear weapons. One the other hand, the Liberal Party also has members with ideologies more closely related to those of New Komeito. This being the case, we should not try to understand the Liberal Party as a political party, but rather as a faction centered around Ichiro Ozawa. Then,by looking at the results of past elections,it is clear to see that the Ozawa faction will continue to have difficulty in increasing its number of supporters in Tokyo and other big cities.

** These reports and analyses are produced by the sole responsibility of JIPR
and the copyright of these reports and analyses belongs to JIPR.**