Top > World > 2005 > September > 2005-09-11

Koizumi reshapes Japanese politics

Since his largely unexpected selection as president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan in 2001, Junichiro Koizumi has dragged cautious LDP lawmakers into unfamiliar waters, urging fiscal restraint and smaller government. He has smashed the traditional mold of consensus politics and led from the top down. He`s succeeded in halving the bad loans at major Japanese banks, nonperforming loans fell by nearly 60 percent to $164 billion in March. And he`s pushed economic reforms, particularly the ambitious focus of this election: privatizing the postal savings system.

Now that flamboyant style may be paying off. Buoyed by dropping unemployment - the rate in July was 4.4 percent - and moderate economic growth, Koizumi may have boosted the likelihood that he`ll keep his job, while setting the stage for future strong leaders by increasing the authority of his office.

If Koizumi wins a mandate, he will be in a strong position to introduce neoliberal policies in areas from health to pension reform to agriculture. LDP bigwigs are also urging him to stay beyond the scheduled end of his tenure in September 2006. Analysts say victory for Koizumi would be yet another major blow to Japanese politics, which is heavily influenced by factions within the parties, and a further step toward a more Western, confrontational-style democracy.