Editorial
Voters should examine political parties' manifestos ahead of Lower House election
As the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officially announced its manifesto on Friday, voters are now ready to compare campaign pledges by political parties for the upcoming general election for the House of Representatives.
The LDP states in its manifesto that it will raise the consumption tax after achieving an economic recovery, replace prefectures with larger entities like states as part of a decentralization of power plan and make early childhood education free of charge on a step-by-step basis over the next three years. Through its manifesto, the LDP attempted to clarify its differences from that of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
The LDP, which is being overwhelmed by the DPJ's drive to take over the reins of government, faces an unprecedented crisis. Nevertheless, its campaign pledges are vague and their numerical targets and deadlines are obscure. It can be hardly recognized that the LDP has sufficiently demonstrated its goals to the public to compete with the DPJ.
In announcing the manifesto at a news conference, Prime Minister Taro Aso said the LDP is superior to other parties in terms of its ability to fulfill its responsibilities as the governing party. He then emphasized that the LDP places priority on achieving the security of people's livelihoods through its social security and other programs.
The LDP pledged to take measures to support those who are not covered by a pension program and those who are eligible for only small amounts of pension benefits, as well as to make early childhood education free of charge, all within three years.
It also promised to enact legislation to reform the nation's tax system, including the consumption tax, by fiscal 2011. This is in stark contrast with the DPJ, which has failed to clarify financial resources for policy measures it has pledged to implement if it takes over the reins of government.
Still, the LDP's manifesto fails to send a clear message to voters. The prime minister said the LDP "will break away from the excessive market fundamentalism," emphasizing it will implement a middle-size welfare system with a moderate burden on taxpayers. At the same time, the LDP said it will achieve annual economic growth of 2 percent by the latter half of fiscal 2010. However, the manifesto has failed to explain its strategy for attaining the goal of rectifying social problems while achieving economic recovery, specific measures it will implement to that end and the amount of funds necessary for such measures.
Moreover, the LDP manifesto fails to clarify deadlines for achieving some of its policy goals while talking about measures it promises to implement in the distant future.
It states that the LDP will aim to replace prefectural governments with larger local bodies six to eight years after a basic law on the decentralization of power is enacted, reduce the number of seats in both houses of the Diet by at least 30 percent in 10 years and increase each household's after-tax annual income by at lest 1 million yen within 10 years. One cannot help but wonder whether it is appropriate for a political party to make an election pledge to implement policy measures 10 years later.
The LDP manifesto states that it will implement policy measures outlined in its manifesto in four years unless the deadline is specified. However, even this is still too vague.
Unlike the previous general election in 2005 in which only the pros and cons of postal privatization was at issue, the comprehensive policies of political parties will be tested in the upcoming election. Political parties should clarify the short-term schedule for implementing measures they pledge, as well as how to achieve them.
The crisis within the LDP involves its confusion over what slogans it should adopt to counter the DPJ, which is calling for reform of bureaucrat-dominated politics and protection of people's livelihoods, on top of its fear of losing the election and becoming an opposition party.
In finalizing its manifesto, the LDP reportedly struggled to coordinate opinions between its legislators on the wording of Japan's use of collective self-defense and a ban on public servants' landing lucrative post-retirement jobs in the industry they once supervised. This illustrates the seriousness of the confusion within the LDP.
Now that almost all political parties have announced their election campaign pledges, voters are ready to discuss how to prevent the birthrate from declining further, how to balance the debt-ridden state budget and the future of the Japan-U.S. alliance among other important policy issues. Each party's ability to hold the reins of government will be finally tested during the election campaign.
However, parties should not regard the manifestos they have announced as the final editions. They should brush them up to provide better explanations of their policies to voters.
(Mainichi Japan) August 1, 2009