General Election2003


So who will be leading Japan? (Please click read more)

I went to vote for the General Election for the Japanese Hose of Representatives this morning. It is the first opportunity for us to literally choose from two alternatives: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Democratic Party of Japan DPJ) . The problem is not only that their names are quite similar, but that their 'manifestos' (aim as the ruling party of Japan after winning the election) seem very close.

My understanding is that they both aim to:
1. Reduce public expenditure
2. Reduce the unfairness of tax
3. Provide more job opportunity
4. Eliminate bad debts
5. Increase national security
6. Reform social security etc etc...

I found it difficult to decide which because both of them provided little information how they achieve the aims and how they are feasible. I had to vote either of them, so I did feeling slightly uncomfortable.

I wonder what it could be like if the two parties are much more different as their counterparts in the US or UK. Conservative people support LDP while liberal people do DPJ? I think this 'choose one out of two' style political system requires some time to be accepted in Japan. People here are not strongly divided into certain groups such as races, religions or working classes, and this makes to allocate in certain political groups.

Many Japanese people (including myself) do not have any specific political party they usually support, and in case of election they choose one from the provided menu. This time there are two courses recommended by the chef and a few additional plates indicated in much smaller letters. If a customer is not very hungry or does not concern about what s/he wants to eat, they could choose by the first impression of the photo of the plates thinking they had at least more alternatives in the past.

This is, however, only the start of a new period, and we need to keep our eyes on how the elected ruling party keeps its manifesto by the promised dates. I will owe a certain obligation on the party I voted, and I will sack them if they fail to do as promised.

Anyway I am glad that the election is over now: I feel sick to hear the candidates and their supporters shout only their names with loud speakers.

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By the way, below is how we vote. Anything different or funny about it?

1. Receive a post card from the election committee informing the date of election and where I go and vote
2. Go to the voting place (an elementary school near by in my case)
3. Hand in the post card at the reception and tell the officer my birthday (they have a voters' list and check)
4. Receive a token
5. Bring the token to another officer and receive a voting card for small electoral district
6. Write one name from the provided candidates (three in my case) and put it in the box
7. Receive a voting card for proportional representation (PR) and a confident vote card for the judges of the supreme court
8. Write one political party for the PR and put X on the name of the judge you want to sack (How could I know the performance of the judges of the supreme court anyway?)

Posted: (日) - 11 9, 2003 at 04:15 PM          

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