Abe seeks a second chance at becoming PM

God help us all. Abe is the last person we need right now. He will only make things worse.

It's as though the LDP actually wants to go to war.

Abe the new LDP head. Pathetic.

Last night i heard that is actually impossible to become a pm in japan twice, anyone know more about that? Or is it because he quit early he can get another go?

Real change coming here!

Same old, same old, same old . . . . . . .

He will likely win the next election so let's hope he learns to a bit of diplomacy and to keep his mouth shut once and a while. This guy is gonna bring a lot of trouble on Japan me thinks.

I thought the phrase was "only in America".

A job, PM, with so much pressure and responsibility, and the man being lined up is someone who already held the position and failed.

Only in Japan.

The quintessential Japanese politician. A big, tough talker and "hawk" when he's a faceless backbencher with no real authority or responsibility. BecomesPM and what does he do when faced with adversity? Check himself into a hospital with exhaustion or some other bogus claim like the weakling he is.

If he is PM it will nto be same old same old. Japan will be blasted about 40 years back. Ultra nationalist "ware ware nihonjin" and textbooks revised to teach kids that Japan did nothing wrong in their history.

Abe will try to allow the self defense forces be a real military and Japan's neighbors will be even MORE pissed at Japan than they are now.

If Abe is PM Japan could actually be in a military confrontation very quickly.

Abe is right. He is the true defender of Japan.

Japan has made mistakes and did somethings wrong. It's other nations who refuse to admits their wrong doings.

Japan has made mistakes and did somethings wrong. It's other nations who refuse to admits their wrong doings.

That makes no sense.

Tomoki - what?

Unbelievable.......he should have been court marshalled for deserting his post from before? Instead he is gonna get another go at the same job he turned his back on and ran away from!!!!!! Japanese politics at its utmost best. You'd do better outsourcing the PM job.

The AFP news does not mention that Abe while in office tried to have Japan grow out of the so called post-war regime. He tried to reform the civil servant system by regulating "amakudari" and introducing merit system. He met a strong resistance by bureaucrats and mass media inspired by them and his efforts were crippled. But he resurges. That's one of the reasons why good wits jump between Abe and Hashimoto.

Other than some nationalist rhetoric not much different to Koizumi, Abe didn't actually get much done when he was last PM. Japan was persona non-grata in China, relations were strained with Korea, and he didn't get to do much of anything during his term to add to that, and I'm sure the situation diplomatically will not be much different this time.

It is ironic that people are saying he will make things worse - only because he is going to be more like the stubborn nationalists running Korea and PRC?

What's more interesting is to remember how he left office - basically he suffered a nervous breakdown of some sort from what I can tell, generated basically by relentless media hounding (that started with leftist tabloids opposed to his constitutional reform and anti-Korea agenda (banning pachinko was a flagship policy he failed to get) and soon entered the mainstream media). He was as despised within the Japanese media establishment as he was within the governments of Korea and PRC.

The next election will be an interesting face off between anti-Noda apathy and disenchantment, versus the media trying to encourage people to vote in order to stop Abe becoming PM.

Makes it interesting. My hope is that having such a polarizing leader as a near shoe-in to be the next PM will help stimulate youth and urban voter interest in democracy in Japan again. It will also force other non-ideology based parties (as the DPJ has become) to reassert clear positions based on more than bureaucratic advice to stand against him.

He was weak and ineffectual last go round, but now he is supposed to stand up to China?

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"

This loser shud have been put out to pasture! It is embarassing seeing these ex. loser pms still hanging around, they aint helping nothin!