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© KYODOAbe becomes 2nd-longest-serving Japanese prime minister
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Simon Foston
Not on merit.
oldman_13
I don't agree with everything Abe has done and said, but I certainly applaud him for standing up to the Chinese and South Korean governments that tried to needlessly bully and shame Japan and its people. Especially people like Moon, who thought Abe and Japan were soft and would just lay there with its head tucked between its tail.
Spitfire
A case of quantity over quality I think.
trinklets2
The mere fact that he ended the so called revolving door policy and as @Oldman said, standing up to all the bashings through all these yrs is highly commendable. Wishing the best for him!
ifd66
I was just about to write exactly the same comment.
Simon Foston
oldman_13Today 07:27 am JST
He's just playing to his right-wing nationalist base. Apart from stirring up trouble it hasn't achieved a whole lot either.
trinklets2Today 08:09 am JST
The revolving door period is over which means instead of six or seven mediocre prime ministers in as many years Japan has had just one. I don't think the country is any better off really.
Yubaru
This only goes to prove even further that there is no viable opposition to put any real change in government in place. Particularly when the "main" opposition is pretty much all a bunch of former LDP party members, and the electorate cant tell the difference between them!
At any other time, Abe would have been kicked out by his own party for not achieving any of his stated goals, but there aren't any viable choices to choose from within the party. Not anyone that could control all the factions within the LDP itself that is.
Ganbare Japan!
Congratulations, PM Abe! He has shown himself to be a man who stands up for Japan and Japanese people, against bullies. The streetfighter from Yamaguchi is tough, and has come a long way!
PM Abe has got Japan back, but there is still more work for him to do: keeping the economy growing nicely, directing Tokyo 2020, and changing the Constitution in these dangerous times.
Ex_Res
Abe becomes 2nd-longest-serving Japanese prime minister
I don't think that it says a lot for democracey in Japan.
Simon Foston
Ganbare Japan!Today 08:37 am JST
That's hilarious.
quercetum
FWIW Abe probably is doing the best he can for someone who has to work with Trump and with the cards that he has. What foreign head of state has a better relationship than Abe with Trump?
Simon Foston
quercetumToday 09:35 am JST
Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-Un, Benjamin Netanyahu and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. None of them exactly bastions of moral fibre.
Meiyouwenti
I doubt it very much whether Abe will be able to survive the triple blows of a consumption tax hike, a post-Olympics recession and stagnation in world trade caused by the US-China trade war.
sf2k
Remember there's nothing stopping the LDP from extending term limits
With such a risk adverse voting population that just vote LDP it's pretty comical to call Japan a democracy. At least they prevented him from getting the majority he needed to change the constitution outright. And in doing so it also hampers his plans for a more assertive military, but those are the only pluses. He still made Japan an arms dealer in 2014.
A weak and non independent court system has shown of late that there really isn't a lot of there, there. It's not there to hold politicians to account but be an instrument of the ruling class.
Shadows of China-light, but at least Japanese are free to travel. Without allowable public discourse on issues though it's not the population's concerns that push the agenda.
Simon Foston
sf2kToday 10:24 am JST
This comment is quite typical of the substantive criticisms of the LDP and the current administration. The best that Abe supporters can come up with to refute it is often hard to tell apart from trolling.
Wallace Fred
Yep he should go down as the greatest scam artist as well. People fell for his snake oil because he promised to improve lives by fixing the economy. Lies of course. All he really cared about was setting this rather useless record just so he can show off to his already gone pacifist father who constantly belittled him. That's all really. Ego trips.
By the time he leaves, japan will require a miracle and a few generations to return to normalcy.
AviBajaj
Thing good of others good will happen to u think bad of others good aint happening to u. What happens tomorrow no one knows just wait n watch
AviBajaj
I mean think good
zurcronium
Wallace Fred,
Agee with you but the LDP screwed up Japan before Abe took over. Koizumi was the
Reagan of Japan with the fake supply side economics and Abe is the Trump of Japan
using fake policy announcements that then go nowhere. Like his 3 arrows. Or Womanomics.
The list goes on and on. Japan is in serious trouble with the debt and aging issues. The LDP
has no one that can lead the country and the opposition is a joke. Not good. But no doubt
Abe makes things worse. Like with SK and NK for that matter. Both failures. Oh, and Russia.
And if Trump slaps tariffs on Japanese cars, which is possible, the USA too despite the kissy
kissy strategy Abe has used in the last two plus years with Trump.
Alexandre T. Ishii
Abe becomes 2nd-longest-serving Japanese prime minister? So, that means a long life, or anything else?
CrisGerSan
Abe is one of the finest Prime Ministers Japan has had..and I am very glad he is doing such good work for the country.
Spitfire
ifd66,
Cheers for that.....great minds and all of that as well.
In my country right now.....we have an abundance of bad politicians but Japan seems to have a conveyor belt of them.
juminRhee
I remember an article I read (believe BBC) lamenting the long reign of the "dictator" putin in Russia. It failed to call "dictator" to Angela Merkel in germany who had served in the exact same position (Chancellor) for just 2 years less time than putin had served in 2 different offices. Yeah, the govts are different, but article was focusing on their term of office.
dougthehead13
Meiyouwenti Today 09:59 am JST
Abe is an already amortized Prime Minister. And all that remains is for him to reach the summer of 2020, to be the visible face of that year's Olympic Games in front of world leaders. Right now he's an outgoing leader in office. And he will no longer run for a new term.
All the problems you describe in your comment. It will be the work for the future Prime Minister who will replace Shinzo Abe in office. Name we don't know yet.
B. Jay
Are they counting his first stint as PM together with the current one? He had the chance to serve two times as PM and now likely to become the longest serving PM when you put the two stints together. He must have some concrete achievements to his name else it becomes a case of just quantity over quality. Koizumi could have broken that record if he wanted.
mike1492
Long Live PM Abe.
Jtsnose
I think he is related to Sato as a result of his marriage.