Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Japan opposition hits back as LDP takes off gloves
Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:12am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Linda Sieg and Chisa Fujioka
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition Democratic Party lashed out Friday at what it charged was a misleading negative campaign by the ruling party ahead of an election that Prime Minister Taro Aso's coalition is in danger of losing.
Analysts say Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), shaken by internal feuds and facing a possible loss in an August 30 poll, is making attacks on the Democrats of a sort rare in a country where many have had an allergy to Western-style negative campaigns.
Struggling to avert an election loss that would mark the end of a half-century of almost unbroken rule, the LDP has made clear its strategy of attacking the Democrats as weak on security policy and irresponsible on public finances.
Wednesday, the LDP ran a full-page advertisement in the conservative Sankei newspaper, with a big, bold-faced headline declaring: "The Future of Japan is in Danger."
Democratic Party Secretary-General Katsuya Okada blasted the ad, as well as recent televised remarks by his LDP counterpart, as containing misleading statements about his party's policies.
"It is natural for there to be healthy criticism and debate about policies, but the stance of the LDP, which is stressing partial, biased information and is not engaging in serious debate, is extremely regrettable and sad," Okada told a news conference.
An opposition Democratic Party victory would usher in a government pledging to pay more heed to consumers than companies, wrest control of policy from bureaucrats to reduce waste, and adopt a diplomatic stance less subservient to ally the United States.
It would also raise the chances of ending a political deadlock resulting from a divided parliament in which the opposition controls the upper house, which has delayed policy implementation as Japan struggles to emerge from a deep recession.
NEW POLITICAL TRICKS
Surveys show the Democrats in front in the lead-up to the election, and analysts say the LDP, jolted by the prospect of losing power for only the second time since its founding, is adopting the negative campaign in a bid to win back conservative voters.
In one example, the ruling party is running an animated cartoon on its website portraying Democratic leader Yukio Hatoyama as a smooth-talking suitor wooing a woman with fuzzy promises. (See: www.jimin.jp/index.html)
The LDP is also charging the opposition with being under the thumb of the teachers' union, a group anathema to conservatives.
"It's an old political trick, although new in Japan. The LDP may try to make the most of it," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano of the LDP's strategy.
"The question is whether it will come out as desperate and unseemly, or convince some undecided voters. It's not clear because we've not seen anything like this before."
The LDP's No. 2 repeated his criticism of the Democrats' policies and rebutted media charges that his own party was way behind schedule on finalizing their campaign platform. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Defense delivers closing argument in Suu Kyi trial
Also on Reuters
Microsoft raises specter of doubt on tech recovery
Blog: Palin leaves office with dip in popularity ratings
"New Moon" rises at Comic-Con
More International News
Afghan president vows to regulate foreign troops
U.S. to transfer $200 million to Palestinians
Iran cleric warns over moves to harm Khamenei
Defense delivers closing argument in Suu Kyi trial
British battle for Afghan trust in restive south
More International News...
Related News
Japan ruling party No.2 says won't ditch reforms
5:34am EDT
Japan turns to campaign gurus ahead of election
4:23am EDT
Japan ruling party scores hit with campaign cartoon
4:23am EDT
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Obama stirs racial passions in Harvard case | Video
Naked girls plow fields for rain
Banks kick commercial real estate loans down road
Obama stokes racial passions, police anger | Video
Microsoft raises specter of doubt on tech recovery
Chinese experts grow live mice from skin cells
Mayors, rabbis arrested in NJ corruption probe | Video
Wal-Mart woos laptop shoppers
Bill Gates to India: Go high end on R&D
For finance pros, Asia expat life losing perks
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
China nominee plays up engagement
Obama: Police acted "stupidly"
NJ mayors, rabbis ensnared in probe
Karadzic calls massacre a myth
Book deals for Jackson estate
Czech mates bare nearly all
S.Korean factory riots
China ends student quarantine
Meet Canada's first space tourist
Fires rage through hot Europe
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.