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About meLDP tug-of-war
With Abe out, the search for his follower begins. The Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election (which effectively decides who gets that kantei office) is set for September 19, with campaigning to begin five days earlier. A snap election that guarantees no surprise candidates, since the only viable ones are those whose support bases are already lined up.
The LDP may be about to take part in a strenuous tug-of-war match between its members who think that venturing into strange (to the party) seas of reform while Koizumi was at the helm robbed it of its traditional strength, and those who believe instead that Abe weakened the party by failing to follow that Koizumi course in a visible fashion. Aso Taro, whom many are calling the front-runner in the race this time around, appeared to come out on the former side when he was tapped to serve as LDP Secretary-General at the end of August, and was quoted as saying: 「自民党は一度、自民党をぶっ壊すという人を選んで、事実、ぶっ壊れた。あとの自民党をどう立て直すかが3人に与えられた役割だ」 (The LDP in the past chose a person who promised to smash the party, and it ended up broken. Our [the three politicians put in top party slots] task now is to find a way to put the party back together). Sounds to me like a rejection of the Koizumi course, although he may have meant otherwise. Politicians speak with forked tongue and all that.
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