Japan under Aso

Japanese people always fed up with their prime ministers within weeks or months, surely not within years. They hardly give them opportunity to complete their four-year tenure under the constitution. Since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's resignation on September 21, 2006, the last week of the month of September has become the month of political change in world's second largest economy. On September 26, 2007, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned, followed by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's resignation on September 24, 2008 who was replaced by Taro Aso same day. Taro served as foreign minister under the administrations of Koizumi and Abe during 2005-7. He is the grandson of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida who served seven years in five exceptional terms up to 1954. Fukuda took over on September last when Abe tendered his resignation on September 26, 2007.

The bringing up of Aso is witnessing another change as the lower House of the Diet will be re-elected as snap elections will be held next month or so. The lawmakers of the traditional ruling Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP), known as Jimento in Japanese, expect that early elections will give them victory over opponents, especially over the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), known as Minshuto in Japanese, which runs majority in the House of Councillors (Upper House) of the Diet since last July's elections and has the power to block legislation.

Nevertheless, the resignation of Fukuda and replacement by Aso reflects a change within the party and not within the behaviour of the voters. It has to be determined as to what extent change within the party will get voters' support for the LDP. Aso won the support of the LDP on September 23 to become its president. Normally, LDP presidential race determines who should lead the government as the party has been ruling Japan since 1955 with a small interval in the 1990s.