Japanese PM Aso says he will step down as LDP president
Prime Minister Taro Aso said Monday he will resign as president of the Liberal Democratic Party to take the blame for its historic defeat in Sunday’s general election.
The 68-year-old vowed that his party, whose presence was whittled down from 300 seats to 119 in the House of Representatives, will rebuild itself and take back power from the Democratic Party of Japan, which prevailed in the election.
But to do so, he said, the party must rethink its existence first, given that people voted out of power a party that had governed the country almost uninterruptedly for the past 54 years since its founding.
Aso said the LDP must begin the rebuilding process by listening to voices in the party’s regional organizations, thus he plans to bring together party officials from across the country, possibly by the end of this week.
The DPJ, which captured a whopping 308 seats in the lower house, is eyeing having its president, Yukio Hatoyama, elected new prime minister at a special parliamentary session to be called in mid- September.
Asked if he thinks the LDP should choose a new president by then so its members can vote for the next leader at the Diet session, Aso said he was reluctant about it.
“Choosing a new president too quickly would lead to discontent among party members in regional areas,” he said, emphasizing the need to take enough time for the leadership race. “It’s not a very good idea” to do so for the party’s revitalization, he said.
As to causes of the LDP defeat, Aso said the loss was brought about by his party’s failure to appropriately address social problems in the country, including growing inequalities and what he perceived as a prevailing sense of stagnation among the people.
“I believe there was public discontent with LDP politics itself,” Aso said, also acknowledging criticism directed at himself.
The prime minister provoked criticism due to his occasional verbal gaffes and flip-flops on policy issues.
Aso was widely expected to dissolve the lower house for a general election soon after taking office last September, but he waited until late July to do so.
On Monday, he defended his decision, citing the worsening economy amid global financial crisis at the time, and noted that he had to put priority on stimulus measures to defend people’s livelihoods.
“My judgment wasn’t mistaken,” he said.
Topics: Aso, Governance, Japan, Japanese Prime Minister, LDP, Liberal Democratic Party, politics, Taro
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