Opposition wins poll in Japan: Will return of Abe make any difference? 

- DR. ABDUL RUFF

[Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal, Specialist on State Terrorism ;Chancellor-Founder of Centor for International Affairs(CIA); Commentator  on world affairs, Analyst on Middle East, Chronicler of Foreign occupations & Freedom movements (Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Xinjiang, Chechnya, etc.) Former university Teacher; website: http://abdulruff.wordpress.com/mail: abdulruff_jnu@yahoo.com]

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The regime deliberately increases electricity charges to force the people to accept the nuclear terror methods ostensibly for electricity generation but in reality it wants the pants for nukes-electricity generation. It has also resulted in regular hikes in electricity prices. Big businesses want Japan to continue using nuclear power more to increase their net profits  less to reduce the impact on the economy but a large number of protesters have been taking to the streets every week.  But electricity is costing more and more.

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In terrocracies or so-called democracies, polls are conducted as mere rituals to obtain legitimacy to control people and possibly loot resources.  Even as the central tool to control resources and people, however, polls also provide the populations to decide their own fate as well as nation’s destiny. .  .

People in Japan, the world's third largest economy and financially strong notorious NATO member, voted on 15^thDecember in a general election in Japan, where former leader Shinzo Abe, 58, of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) challenged the current Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda of Democratic Party (DPJ). Abe, the leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, hails from a political family - his father was foreign minister and grandfather was prime minister, he succeeded Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister in 2006 but resigned a year later. Abe served as prime minister from 2006-2007 before stepping aside amid plummeting poll numbers, citing illness.

The conservative Liberal Democratic Party which had enjoyed almost 50 years of unbroken rule until it was ousted by the DPJ in 2009, has now won majority of almost 300 seats Together with the New Komeito Party's 31 seats, the coalition would have a two-thirds majority in the 480-seat chamber, putting it in a position to override the upper house on stalled legislation. The DPJ, the ruling party, lost badly, saw its seats reduced from 230 to 57 in the lower house. 

The DPJ was elected in 2009 on its promise to increase welfare spending and break ties between the bureaucracy and big business but it failed to live up to the  expectations of people. Its failure to deliver on the economy and response to the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami lost it support.

Shinzo Abe, the leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, has vowed to take a tough stance in territorial disputes with China. China has urged the new government to take "practical steps" to deal with the East China Sea territorial dispute. The two countries are currently embroiled in a row over islands in the area that both claim. Abe, seen as a foreign policy hawk who has called for Japan's pacifist constitution to be revised and patriotic sentiment nurtured, has advocated a strong stance in the dispute. The eight disputed islands are in the East China Sea, and known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China. They are uninhabited but strategically important. Abe said the islands were Japan's "inherent territory" and it was his party's objective was "to stop the challenge" from China. "We don't intend to worsen relations between Japan and China," he said. The islands were also the focus of a major diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2010.

Most controversially, he has openly said he does not believe that Japanese troops forced Chinese, Korean, and women from other Asian countries into sexual slavery during the Second World War. China will now be watching very closely.  

Parliament is expected to formally endorse Abe as prime minister on 26 December. Abe faces tough decisions on the economy as well as China. He said his party understood its "heavy responsibility". Chinese media have warned that Japan's "rapid shift to the right" had neighbours worried.

Earlier, Abe's centre-right LDP was swept from office by the DPJ in 2009, ending more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule. Promising more public spending and a more assertive foreign policy as tensions with China run high, Abe's was however expected to oust Noda's after just three years in office. Abe has also called for a tough stance on the territorial row with China over East China Sea islands that both countries claim. Relations between Japan and China, which are already poor, could be about to get worse.

The DPJ lost the poll because it promised more welfare spending and a better social safety net, but struggled to deliver amid the economic downturn and 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It has also seen several leadership changes - Yoshihiko Noda is the third DPJ prime minister since 2009.

Japanese politicians and parties promote capitalist agenda of imperialist powers.

Capitalists decide policies

All 480 lower house seats were up for grabs in the election.  People do not trust the leaders and parties. Although people gathered at the polling booths, many voters remain undecided, amid disillusionment in Japan over politics. For Japanese voters, coming to grips with difficult economic choices may be what is needed to jolt their nation out of ongoing stagnation. But it is something not many want to hear.

Japan regime needs to be able to boost growth, end falling prices, reduce its mammoth debt and weaken the Japanese yen. All the while, keep the voters happy by not resorting to unpopular policies. Abe says he will now use public spending in an effort to end 20 years of economic stagnation, and that nuclear energy has a role to play in resource-poor Japan's future despite last year's nuclear disaster at Fukushima.

But, Japan political parties promote capitalism and fiancé global imperialism. All policies therefore are being charted exclusively for supporting that goal. What are the stances of Japan's main parties vying for 480 seats in the lower house of parliament on 16 December? And this is the challenge that the parties face - tough economic issues on which tough decisions have to be made but without terrorizing or harm the people in any manner.

.The election of Shinzo Abe as Japan's new prime minister could have profound implications for Japan's relations with its neighbours, particularly China. Many people point out that the last time Abe was briefly prime minister, in 2007, he made a point of restoring tattered relations with China. And it's still possible he may try to do that again. Abe said it was time for Japan to change its pacifist constitution so it can have a proper military and defend its own territory. He also vowed to protect every inch of Japan's sacred land and sea - including the disputed Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands. 

The pro-multinational ruling DPJ pushed through the sales tax hike and Noda said Japan should join the TPP. As for nuclear energy, after changing its position a few times, it has promised to phase it out by the 2030s. And voters see Noda as someone who has restarted the first nuclear reactors since the Fukushima accidents.

Nuclear powers want to sell reactors of any nation seeking nukes under the garb of electricity generation.  Multinational companies want to make huge money by reactor deals. Japan, the victim of US nuclear terror attacks in 1944 during the WW-II for global resources exclusively for international capitalists and imperialists, is now a strong ally of America and eager to terrorize the populations with nuclear terror projects. The debate over nuclear energy, forceful restart of suspended nuclear reactors on false electricity generation pretext and his perceived flip-flopping on the issue have also affected his popularity.

Regime against people

Japan looks like it is about to take a dramatic turn to the right promoting the rich and multinationals.

Noda lost public support over the move to reopen nuclear terror plants to terrorising the masses , and also double sales tax, something he said was necessary to tackle Japan's massive debt. Noda said the hike was necessary to rebuild Japan's finances. But more than 50 lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan opposed the bill, resulting in their departures and the formations of many small political parties.

The regime has hiked taxes affecting people except the capitalists. A hike in the consumption tax shoppers must pay on everything they buy. It is currently 5% but the Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, along with the two main opposition parties, pushed through a bill to raise it to 8% by 2014 and 10% by 2015 in August. Big businesses will lose nothing as they may be able to pass on the hike to consumers but we cannot raise prices because we'll lose customers. The consumption tax hike is often seen as political suicide because almost every administration that suggested or imposed the introduction or the hike of the tax failed to win the next general elections.

A huge new free trade area around the Pacific Ocean called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The pact began six years ago and its current members are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico and the United States. Participation has been discussed in Japan for many years but the Mr Noda expressed Japan's desire to become a negotiating partner earlier this year.

To put it simply, big businesses and exporters support the move. Farmers and their strong unions strongly oppose it.

Made in Japan" produce is known to be much more expensive than its overseas rivals and without tariffs on imports, many farmers would struggle to survive global competition. The regime claims it could mean cheaper vegetables and rice, etc.

There has been heated debate over whether Japan should abandon Nuclear energy altogether and majority of population terrorized by Tsunami and the regime’s nuclear  plans. All but two nuclear reactors remain shut.Before the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011, nuclear accounted for 29% of Japan's electricity supply. But in the past 21 months, the anti-nuclear movement has been gaining momentum.

Japan has been importing other sources of energy. Japan now buys a lot more products from overseas than it sells abroad and the gap between its exports and imports - called trade deficit - has been widening.

The regime deliberately increases electricity charges to force the people to accept the nuclear terror methods for electricity. It has also resulted in regular hikes in electricity prices. Big businesses want Japan to continue using nuclear power more to increase their net profits  less to reduce the impact on the economy but a large number of protesters have been taking to the streets every week. Small business owner Kunio Ueno is also against nuclear power plants even if it means he will have to pay even more for electricity. "We have to look at a longer term goal and we don't want to have any more accidents at nuclear power plants". "We changed our light bulbs to save energy and to cut costs." But electricity is costing more and more.

People choice limited to capitalists

Rich occupies the poll scenario in Japan. Just like Israeli leaders, Abe is fundamentally no different from the current Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda of Democratic Party (DPJ) as both these leaders and parties promote capitalists’ multinational interests, including nuclear terror proliferations.

Economic policy of the fringe parties that are expected to form part of a coalition remains vague, although the Japan Restoration Party - a tie-up between two populist figures - backs the sales tax rise to fund local governments. Capitalists support Japan joining the TPP because we have little natural resources and our economy grew by selling goods and services to the rest of the world." Having free trade with the growing Asia is crucial and joining the TPP is the first step.

Ruling and opposition parties have common programs and interests and hence they coordinate their operations even while pretending to be arch enemies. Its main opposition Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) also supported the tax hike in In Mostly as pure gimmick, in August Shintaro Abe said in a television debate that the hike is not definite, but most analysts believe Abe will raise the tax once he is in office. The LDP wants Japan to join the TPP if tariffs on imports are not removed and it says Japan would need some forms of nuclear energy.

Polls - whether in Japan or USA or Russia or India, do not actually change anything on ground for the common people but  provide the  necessary legitimacy to loot nation’s resources jointly by ruling  and opposite parties.

People remain silent spectators and mute witnesses of these anti-national operations by politicians and capitalist-imperialist allies. They only help the politicians with their votes  to promote the  capitalists.

What exactly Abe would do with regard to  welfare measures of common people and  nuclear terror projects being  unleashed by money hungry capitalists seeking blood for entertainment, now remains to be seen.