Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Some Electoral Issues in Japan

     On 10 July, this coming Sunday, we in Japan are going to elect half of the members of our Upper House for a term of six years.  They are elected either Prefecture-based electoral district wise, or in accordance to the proportion of the votes the various political parties get.  Each voter has got two votes, one for the district-wise voting and one for the party-wise voting.  A great characteristic this time is that the voting age has been lowered from 20 to 18.

     Our Upper House is not as powerful as the Lower House.  It means that as long as the majority of the Lower House is in the hands of the LDP-Komei Party coalition as it is at present, the electoral result this week-end will not bring about a change in the Government no matter what the result is going to be.  Still, it is much more powerful than in the British system, and it is possible that the result will greatly influence the political situation.

     The biggest electoral issue is economic, or rather the Government parties are trying to make it that way.  They are making the best of what they call the success of 'Abenomics'.  But has it been a success?  Are the fruits of it trickling down to the less privileged people from the hands of the well-to-do?  Are not the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer?

     The Prime Minister is boasting that the tax revenue has increased tremendously(by Yen 21,000 billion) over the past four years, showing the upward trend of the economy.  As has been pointed out by the critics, however, the condition of our economy was at its worst four years ago because of the world-wide depression and the great earthquake in Eastern Japan, and naturally the tax revenue was at a low level.  Moreover there has been a 3 % rise in consumption tax accounting nearly 40 % of the above tax increase.

     There are a few significant indices which Abe would not like to talk about.  He talks, for example, about achieving an increase in employment.  But most of them belong to unstable, low-paid, irregular work force.  They are called, and call themselves, "working poor".  This is persistently bringing down the wage-level for several years by now.  Simultaneously the level of personal consumption has gone down for the first time for two consecutive years for 2014-5.

       Under the circumstances the Government had to postpone the 2 % more rise in consumption tax planned for the next year.  But together they are going to introduce cut here and there in the social service sector.  They have also lowered the corporation tax, and the income tax on the rich.

     What is being fought in the electoral battle at present is not only the "Abenomics".  There are the questions of collective self-defence, the construction of the new US base at Okinawa, Constitutional Amendment centred around the Article 9, nuclear energy, TPP, and so on.  They are closely interrelated.  Put together they are likely to break, and are to a large measure already breaking, the opinion in this country into two halves.  We have somehow to go through this fire.