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An ignominious exit

While it was widely anticipated that Shinzo Abe would not continue as Prime Minister of Japan for much longer, his September 12 resignation came as a surprise. The writing was on the wall after the Liberal Democratic Party lost control of the upper house of Parliament in the July 29 election. The electoral debacle reduced the LDP’s capacity to press ahead with some of the key items on its agenda although it has a majority in the more powerful lower house. The result also vindicated public opinion polls, which showed that Mr. Abe’s popularity had dipped precipitously. A leader who began his innings dynamically, whose popularity ratings soared above 60 per cent following his constructive visits to China and South Korea, had only about 30 per cent public approval when he left. However, in the fortnight following the election, the 52-year-old leader asserted that he would do his utmost to save his policies. Mr. Abe now appears to have caused terminal damage to his political career. For a long time to come, he will be seen as a politician who gave up the fight without even locking horns with a rejuvenated opposition. Given the circumstances in which he quit office, few of his compatriots will believe that he did so for health reasons; many might even be inclined to believe that the resignation was linked to a soon-to-be-exposed scandal. This is an ignominious exit for a person who was once perceived as the standard bearer of a new generation of Japanese politicians.

Mr. Abe will not be able to claim that he committed political seppuku in order to sanctify an honourable agenda. The issue the opposition was determined to pick up and campaign on was the government’s plan to extend the duration of a law that allows the Japan Self Defence Forces to aid the United States military in its campaigns in Afghanistan. Even though this assistance consists largely of providing refuelling facility to U.S. naval vessels in locations outside their country, most Japanese are against any departure from the norms of a pacifist constitution. Mr. Abe’s effort to carve out a greater role for his country in international security affairs has not gone down well with the people of Japan. There has been even less support for his attempt to re-order Japan’s sense of self by initiating a revision of its World War II record. The public could hardly have been impressed by a government that pursued ideological goals of this sort even as it was hamstrung by corruption scandals, which led to the resignation of four Ministers and the suicide of a fifth; failed to address a widening rich-poor gap; and, did little to repair the damage done to the old-age pension scheme.

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