"The results were a punishment by voters who were frustrated by the recent developments in the LDP. Whether Abe can stay on and achieve his long-cherished revision to Japan's war-renouncing constitution hinges on his 'damage control'," Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior research fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation said.
Other authorities on the matter have concurred, with Koichi Nakano, an international politics professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, saying, "The LDP's thrashing could make it harder for Abe to pursue his cherished goal of revising the U.S.-drafted constitution's pacifist Article 9 by 2020, a politically divisive agenda."
"His prime motive to stay in power is his desire to revise the Constitution, but once his popularity really starts to fall, that becomes very difficult to do," Nakano said.
With the ruling party's scandals also involving the LDP Executive Acting Secretary-General Hakubun Shimomura allegedly accepting donations from Kake Educational Institution in violation of Japan's political funds control law, a junior lawmaker resigning following claims she physically and verbally abused a secretary, and Defense Minister Tomomi Inada making remarks which violated the Self-Defense Forces law, some pundits believed Abe will be hard pushed to recover his former political prowess.
"I think it will be hard for him to rebound and his popularity will continue to decline. Up until now, he's been a Teflon premier, all the scandals just sort of wash off and everybody forgets. But this was a bloody blow," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University.
【国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Japans Abe on shaky ground amid all-time low public support rate】相关文章:
★ 奥运让北京更文明
最新
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15