I just got a message reading:
FUKUDA is RESGINING
Definitely very big news, if true.
On the other hand, Yahoo News Japan is reporting that “40% of 2 Channel users are women, mainly in their 30s and 40s“.
Update: The news is actually published now, a couple of minutes later.
福田首相は１日午後９時半、首相官邸で記者会見し、「国民生活を考えると、新しい体制を整えた上で国会にのぞむべきだ」として、首相を辞任する意向を明らかにした。
福田首相は「（辞任について）先週末に最終的な決断した」と述べた。
So, as of 9:30, Fukuda told a press conference that he’s gone, having finally decided last weekend. Is Japan back to form in brevity of governments, following the unusually stable Koizumi years?
Update 2: Seriously? They’re going to let Aso do it? Japanese political parties should all be glad they don’t have a presidential system, because it would be awfully embarassing when nobody showed up to vote for any of the clowns any of the parties have to offer.
What the hell is going on in Japanese politics???
So who gets to be the next PM? Technically I believe there’s a vote of the full Diet, but I assume that unless there’s an insanely shocking defection of the Koumeitou from the LDP/Koumeitou coalition the next PM will be the president of the LDP.
But who is that? Does second in command Aso step in and take over, or does Fukuda stay LDP president and PM until the LDP has held a vote for a replacement party president, and then the Diet voted to elect that new LDP president to the Prime Ministership? He hasn’t said when he’s resigning, so it really depends on the timing of that.
What has the tradition been in Japanese PM resignations?
Looks like Fukuda instructed Aso to hold an election for a new leader of the LDP. Can anyone tell me what is up with the Komeito?
Now here in Japan (on the Televison), there is speculation that actually Komeito’s opposition against cooperation with the US army in Afghanistan was one reason that Fukuda resigned.
I believe that Komeito is highly surprised with his resign. A journalist said that Komeito was not informed about his resign until the last moment.
By the way, Aso as a successor would be a night mare for Japan. I heard that his advisor for economic policy is Richard Coo. No way!
This is totally baffling…
Please let me offer a completely baseless prediction, as I did when Abe resigned last year…
Aso’s star has risen since the time he lost out to Fukuda in the race to replace Abe. Specifically he has returned to a post in the party leadership, as SecGen.
It is possible that he accepted the risky position as LDP second in command under an unpopular prime minister in excahnge for some kind of quid pro quo, possibly the next premiership.
The idea of having a new prime minister in office could be aimed at exploiting a bump in the polls for electoral advantage. As prime minister, Aso would be able to ride whatever election results came out of this. And with a mandate, Aso could use his charisma, such as it is, to govern effectively, and we all live happily ever after.
The particular timing of Fukuda’s resignation could be due to any number of factors, or even spite on the part of a Fukuda who doesn’t want to play Yoshiro Mori’s game. But the LDP has to think of something to try and limit the predicted losses from the next general election, and as we all know they are not beyond a little political theater to try and gin up votes. In some weird way, a new PM right after the launch of the economic stimulus package could be seen as a sort of double pump-priming of the electorate.
But if the LDP does somehow once again successfully escape accountability it will be most unfortunate. They are a joke. I am sick and tired of this royal court gossip circle-jerk. Vote the bums out!
btw i should note that I am basically cribbing facts of Aso’s career from the observing japan blog plus adding my own nonsense
And with a mandate, Aso could use his charisma, such as it is, to govern effectively, and we all live happily ever after.
But “govern effectively” means “push through policies that the voters are actually interested in,” rather than patriotic education or the antiterror law renewal or stimulus spending on roads while the populace quivers at the prospect of a 10% consumption tax. Paying some attention to the wants of the people would be a way to overpower the DPJ’s foot-dragging in the upper house and come through victorious in the upcoming election (and when the hell are they going to call that now, I wonder) but the wings of the LDP in the driver’s seat now aren’t too interested in anything but traditional pork (the road gang) or slashing the budget across the board (Kono Taro and his pals).
I recon that Adamu is thinkingin the right direction. I see this as a strategic move on the part of the LDP who were becoming increasingly vocal about their lack of confidence in Fukuda – compounding the upper house’s lack of confidence vote a while ago. The reshuffle last month was a clear indication that Aso was being positioned as the next man, foreshadowing Fukuda’s resignation. I am not at all surprised that Fukuda stepped down before calling an election, but I am surprised that it happened this soon.
With Yuriko Koike as a (still potential) candidate, and Nobuteru Ishihara also a candidate and still others rumored, the LDP is gaining more media coverage recently and that will continue until the a new prime minister is chosen.
I think the LDP is getting what they wanted with the resignation of Fukuda. To convert the media coverage and let them focus on the inside politics of the LDP.