Nationalism and economy, Shinzo Abe takes Japan's Upper House
Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - For the first time after 6 years, the victory of the coalition led by Shinzo Abe in elections for the Japanese upper house gives full legislative control to the Prime Minister. The Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister and his ally New Komeito are in fact guaranteed at least 76 of the 121 available seats: the final results will be announced tomorrow.
Immediately after the announcement of victory, Abe told his supporters: "We have received tremendous support from the electorate for our policy, based on economic recovery and stability." In total the coalition government will control 135 of the 242 total seats of the Senate: the Japanese Democratic Party only won 17 seats, the worst result in 15 years.
Japan has an imperfect bicameralism: upper house and lower do not have the same powers, but the Senate can block any legislation under discussion. Until now, the division of the institutions had created the so-called "revolving door" in Tokyo, a euphemism to describe the many changes at the top that have occurred in recent years: six in the last six years.
Analysts believe that Abe's
victory is the result of economic, energy and nationalistic policies put in
place in recent months. The
prime minister first pushed to revive the economy, and pressed on the Bank of
Japan for a new and massive injection of capital into the market after his
election, the Japanese economy grew by 4% and the market share by 40%.
In
addition, Abe has grappled to emerge from the national crisis caused by the
Fukushima disaster in March 2011. Immediately
after the earthquake and tsunami, in fact, Tokyo forced the closure of nuclear
power plants: this has resulted in an increase in energy costs and consequently
a slowdown in production. Braving
the wrath of the conservatives, the prime minister succeeded in securing the
reopening of the first nuclear power plants.
Finally,
his aggressive foreign policies towards neighboring countries, China and South
Korea above all, have also borne weight. The
dispute over the sovereignty of the Senkaku / Diaoyu - islets in the East China
Sea disputed with Beijing - has allowed the prime minister to highlight the
issue of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which does not allow Tokyo to
have an army but only " self-defense
forces, "and that the Conservatives would like to delete. A
very sensitive issue especially for the older portion of the electorate, which
has never fully supported the pacifist line imposed by the United States after
World War II.
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11/07/2022 14:40
