News Analysis: Japan's ruling LDP extending president's term a questionable move, opposed by public

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party endorsing a plan to allow its party presidents to extend their positions at the helm for three consecutive three-year terms will present a number of questionable issues pertinent to governance in Japan, with the general public predominantly opposed to the plan.

Under the current rules of the LDP, its president is theoretically allowed to serve two consecutive three-year terms, but the ruling party is looking to its convention next March to amend its rules, with the plan being revealed by LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura, who heads the party's political reform task force, on Wednesday.

Komura and his task force charged with reforming both party and, by virtue, the political system, unveiled the plan to a consortium of both LDP upper and lower house lawmakers, with none of them voicing their opposition to the move at this juncture, although, of particular note, the party's deliberations and decisions on the matter should involve the public's and local chapters' views and opinions, some LDP lawmakers advocated.

The LDP's policy chief, Toshimitsu Motegi, has said that the move will solidify the country's leadership and, as he put it, "create a more stable administration that is vital to increasing the international presence of Japan," which, as political observers maintain, translates to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe being able to guarantee his role as the party's president and, more pertinently, remain as prime minister beyond his current presidential term which is set to end in September 2018, but may now last until September 2021.

The current scenario may come to fruition because the Japanese law does not restrict the number of consecutive terms prime ministers can serve. In addition, by political propriety, the premiers are invariably the heads of the ruling party, although, in terms of the current synopsis and as pertains to the current political climate in Japan, questions are being asked about the ethics of the move, considering Abe's dictatorial stewardship of the ruling party and the public's ever-diminishing political representation.

Also of note is the fact that the LDP in 1980 banned its presidents from serving three consecutive terms, with the length of one term being fixed at three years in 2002. Once he'd reached his term limit, Junichiro Koizumi, who was prime minister in Japan from 2001 to 2006, stepped down of his own volition and in accordance with the party's rules.

Political watchers here believe that Abe, not just strengthening his grip on power, but, extending his ability to use it, may not necessarily be in the nation's best interests. This, considering his track record of unilaterally forcing publicly-opposed war-related legislation through both chambers of parliament and into law, a contentious move that both thwarted and contradicted the pacifist constitution and has potentially put Japan back on a war path, in flagrant disregard of the public's unalloyed disapproval.

Public opinion polls conducted by multiple major media outlets here have recently shown that those in opposition to extending the prime minister's presidency, as the likelihood is that Abe will remain the LDP's head and the ruling party will not succumb in a possible upcoming lower house election, the timing of which Abe has complete control over to the advantage of his party and as per the political schedule as well as the geopolitical landscape, outnumber those who are in favor of it.

"If Abe has gone this far in his current term, how much further could he possibly go if granted a third term? That's the kind of fear I think many people have," Kazuhisa Kawakami, professor of political science at the International University of Health and Welfare was quoted as saying.

Kawakami, well-versed in voter psychology, also intimated that the results of the media polls showed the public's consternation regarding Abe, an unabashed ultra-right wing proponent with a carefully crafted yet growing tenor as an autocrat, and his obdurate political compass, which is manifestly, as other political pundits consistently attest, firmly facing towards constitutional amendment and militarism.

Other experts close to the matter have also highlighted the fact that rather than putting up smokescreens to Abe extending his term in power to ensure his legacy-led plans to revise the constitution come to fruition, including those relating to the premier supposedly eager to preside over the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020, which will be hosted in Tokyo, and recent issues pertaining to the Emperor's potential abdication, which may have a bearing on the political calendar, the ruling administration has more pressing priorities.

Namely, the exigent state of Japan's economy and the failings of numerous installations of the prime minister's "Abenomics" brand of economic policies, against a backdrop of a rapidly aging society and shrinking population, which threaten to further batter the world's third-largest economy, if sustainable solutions aren't actualized tout de suite.

Once again, Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has said the central bank will likely fail to achieve its 2 percent inflation goal within a time frame that has already been delayed four times, with the central bank chief imploring Abe and his government to refocus its attention on the economy and do more to fulfill its pledge to the electorate to rescue, reform and reboot the economy.

"As for the long-term economic outlook, given Japan's aging population and low birth rate, an increase in labor force participation and a further rise in labor productivity are both essential if Japan is to lift sustainable long-run growth. Indeed, labor market reform is a vital part of the current government's policy agenda," the BOJ chief said. Endit