More lawmakers to desert Japan's ailing main opposition party

Problem is that too many of the JDP have their roots with the LDP and it's damn near impossible to see what difference there is between the two!

Oh that's just great, we may as well hand Muppet face a dictatorship on a plate.

Second class botchans. Who's going to vote for second raters when you can for for real botchans like Abe, Aso, Kishida and so on?

The defections come shortly after a change of leadership and amid speculation the party could soon face a powerful competitor in the form of an emerging national-level political force connected to popular Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike.

If Koike is smart, she'll keep all the right wing conservative nuts at bay and form a progressive party that is clearly a very different animal than the LDP. The reason that the LDP has been so successful is that

Problem is that too many of the JDP have their roots with the LDP and it's damn near impossible to see what difference there is between the two!

There you have it. Well said. In Japanese politics, as well as US and many other democracies, the ruling and opposition parties are 2 cheeks of the same backside. So the people just shrug their shoulder and go with the devil they know. But bring in someone like Koike in Japan and Sanders in the US, people start to get excited and have some measure of hope.

Renho ruined everything for herself when she brought in Noda the old conservative dinosaur who personally handed the PM position to Abe in 2012. It was a dumb thing to do and I myself said that that was the end of the real opposition as soon as she did that. I knew that she would never win.

Koike, on the other hand,  can really capitalize on this. If she creates a party that is fresh with progressives and not stuffed with the same old conservative dinosaurs, she can really win and implement real and lasting change in Japan.

So, still no opposition in Japan's politics, and politicians change camp when they smell trouble. Also, breaking news : the sky is blue.

Koike, on the other hand, can really capitalize on this. If she creates a party that is fresh with progressives and not stuffed with the same old conservative dinosaurs, she can really win and implement real and lasting change in Japan.

Lol!! The same koike that's a kaigi card carrying member?? Wake up!!

True change does not, I repeat. Does not happen in Japan. Ever!!

Politics is seen as a right and a job in Japan, they who should be concerned even moderately about their constituents just dont, not even in their mind at all. The general population vote as their parents did with not any idea of policies. It works for now but it's pathetic. Good salery though.

Aly RustomToday  08:01 am JST

"The defections come shortly after a change of leadership and amid speculation the party could soon face a powerful competitor in the form of an emerging national-level political force connected to popular Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike."

If Koike is smart, she'll keep all the right wing conservative nuts at bay and form a progressive party that is clearly a very different animal than the LDP. 

If she has any aspirations to be Prime Minister she won't. She's just as much of a right wing conservative as any of them. The DP need someone who can make the same impact as her or Koizumi, but the best they can manage is losers like Maehara who are also, guess what, right wing conservatives.

CrickyToday  08:21 am JST

Politics is seen as a right and a job in Japan, they who should be concerned even moderately about their constituents just dont, not even in their mind at all.

Well, I think they care about the large minorities who can help get them re-elected, especially in over-represented rural areas.

If Koike is smart, she'll keep all the right wing conservative nuts at bay

You mean like Koike herself?

who gives a rat's arse if koike is associated with nippon kaigi? if she can affect change, any change, in the economy, welfare system and the old boy's club mentality then i'm all for it. just because she favors a pro japan stance shouldn't detract from disruption she could force. the key work is "could." who knows if she will end up the same as abe but i'll take the risk.

Lol!! The same koike that's a kaigi card carrying member?? Wake up!!

You just don't get it do you? In order to get anywhere you have to join this group. There is an old wise saying- keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Wake up!!

True change does not, I repeat. Does not happen in Japan. Ever!!

What a negative nancy!  I still have hope for this country even if you don't.  

If she has any aspirations to be Prime Minister she won't. She's just as much of a right wing conservative as any of them. The DP need someone who can make the same impact as her or Koizumi, but the best they can manage is losers like Maehara who are also, guess what, right wing conservatives

comparitively speaking, she isn't as right wing as some of those other nuts though. And she's the best that we've got.

If Koike is smart, she'll keep all the right wing conservative nuts at bay

You mean like Koike herself?

Koike is far less right wing than what we have now? Can you suggest another VIABLE option? Can ANYONE here?? Who has a better chance of beating Abe than Koike? She is a huge step up from ABE.

If she creates a party that is fresh with progressives and not stuffed with the same old conservative dinosaurs, she can really win and implement real and lasting change in Japan.

Fresh? Progressives? lmao. Japan has long been one of the most stable, successful and admirable countries in the world. 90% of Japanese citizens (the ones who get to vote) I meet are very satisfied with that. What sort of 'real and lasting change' do you imagine the citizens of Japan want?

Japan has long been one of the most stable, successful and admirable countries in the world.

Do you have proof of that?

90% of Japanese citizens (the ones who get to vote) I meet are very satisfied with that.

Sure. If all the Japanese YOU meet are at Nippon Kaigi

What sort of 'real and lasting change' do you imagine the citizens of Japan want?

100% of Japanese citizens (the ones who get to vote) I meet want a less nationalistic leader.  They want a leader who will not ram unpopular bills down their throat.  They want a leader who doesn't just make promises but also keeps them. They want a leader who will engage the people and not behave like a despot. That's what the Japanese people (outside of Nippon Kaigi and the Uyoku Dantai want)

Hiding gout .despot? It is clear Shinzo has his job due to family connection not at all due to an amazing connection to the electorate, whos choices are the next sibling or that sibling of a previous PM. Intelligence is not a prerequisite for being a politician in Japan, it's birth and family history.

There is no opposition because it's more profitable to be in the fold, it's weird from a educated point of view but normal from a Japanese point of view.

Shogani is the best way to describe it.

Thus 70+ years of LDP rule

Fresh? Progressives? lmao. Japan has long been one of the most stable, successful and admirable countries in the world. 90% of Japanese citizens (the ones who get to vote) I meet are very satisfied with that. What sort of 'real and lasting change' do you imagine the citizens of Japan want?

Most Americans would say America is a good place to live despite the president and congress having low approval ratings. Most British would say the same about the UK despite having an unpopular government with its head up its arse.

I think most Japanese people, would like to see an improvement in the political situation and a viable opposition. It is supposed to be a democracy after all.

hidingoutToday  10:13 am JST

If she creates a party that is fresh with progressives and not stuffed with the same old conservative dinosaurs, she can really win and implement real and lasting change in Japan.

"Fresh? Progressives? lmao. Japan has long been one of the most stable, successful and admirable countries in the world. "

The Deputy Prime Minister can profess admiration for Hitler and keep his job. Politicians shamelessly pander to over-represented vested interests for no other reason than to get re-elected, throwing around public money like confetti all the while. The ruling party is in power not because they're any good, but because the alternatives are perceived to be even worse - reading these articles about the DP I can kind of see why. The Diet is set up so that there's legislative gridlock if different parties control the two different Houses. Geriatric Diet members get paid exorbitant sums to fall asleep in the chamber, live on TV. There are instances of politicians who run companies ordering employees to vote or do campaigning activities for them.

So what's to admire?

90% of Japanese citizens (the ones who get to vote) I meet are very satisfied with that. 

Koike clearly isn't, otherwise she wouldn't have bolted from the LDP. I don't think she wants much to really change, though, just for everything to be run a bit more honestly and efficiently.

CrickyToday  12:24 pm JST

Hiding gout .despot? It is clear Shinzo has his job due to family connection not at all due to an amazing connection to the electorate, whos choices are the next sibling or that sibling of a previous PM. Intelligence is not a prerequisite for being a politician in Japan, it's birth and family history.

That could all change if they banned politicians affiliated to parties from doing any kind of direct or indirect fundraising on their own and made it so that they could only get campaign cash from their parties' central offices. It'll never happen though.

Single-party states Globally... Japan, US following the lead from China and Russia. Oh how the tables have turned. ??????

What has happened to Democracy ?