Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has resigned as chief of the Democratic Party of Japan to take responsibility for the party’s loss in parliamentary elections.
The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party won between 275 and 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament in Sunday’s election, NHK exit polls projected.
The DPJ was expected to capture less than 100 seats, far below its pre-election strength of 230.
Mr Noda called the results “extremely severe” at a late night news conference, and said that the party lawmakers would hold a meeting as soon as possible to pick a new leader.
Keywords: Yoshihiko Noda, Japan parliamentary polls, Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Party of Japan
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What makes Japan different from India?
Why Japan is able to make impeccable progress in all spheres despite the natural calamities which hit the Nation very often. For them the Nation is important and not the power. Japanese Premier Yuko Okinawa Hatoyama resigned on 2.6.2010 on account of his inability to communicate with the people on two major issues, namely continuance of United States military bases in Japan and the public perceptions about the role ‘money’ played in domestic politics and not because of any scandal or issues. Apparently, Hatoyama is the fourth successive Prime Minister to quit after a year or less than a year at the helm. Now, as per the reports, the Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has resigned as chief of the Democratic Party of Japan to take responsibility for the party’s loss in parliamentary elections.
As a result of this exemplary gesture, a rare phenomenon in democracy as well as electoral politics is undoubtedly helping to reinforce faith of people overwhelmingly in the democratic system in Japan. One of the reasons why Japan could emerge as a global leader on its own even after the manmade disaster in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and repeated natural calamities is due to their strong believe and desire to follow the principles of high standard of moral ethics in public life and zero tolerance to corruption.
If failure to stay attuned to the people’s wishes or the referendum through opinion poll is the criteria for relinquishing from power, there will be a stream of resignation every day in India. There are umpteen numbers of instances warranting resignation of the Minister either on moral grounds or direct indictment. Adarsh, IPL, green hunt operation, recent scams in Medical Council of India, NHAI, CWC, 2G, MGNREGA etc. are some of the issues causing major dent and discomfiture in the minds of the people, especially younger generation. Accepting moral responsibility and tendering resignation from the post cannot be treated as surrender or weakness. Rather it will help not only to bolster the individual’s image in the minds of the people but also strengthen the faith of people in the political system. Many of the problems the country is confronting now are due to the unethical practices and divide and rule policy followed by a majority of politicians with selfish motives. Can we expect such resignation once the Gujarat and HP assembly election results are out.
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