nuclear-news

Nuclear energy’s friend Liberal Democratic Party wins in Japan elections

The anti-nuclear Tomorrow Party – formed just three weeks ago _captured just nine seats, according to NHK. Party head Yukiko Kada said she was very disappointed to see LDP, the original promoter of Japan’s nuclear energy policy making a big comeback.

Japan Elections 2012: LDP Wins Majority In Parliamentary Elections HUFFINGTON POST, By MALCOLM FOSTER 12/16/12 TOKYO — Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in a landslide election victory Sunday after three years in opposition, according to unofficial results,….

The victory means that the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead the nation
after a one-year stint in 2006-2007. He would be Japan’s seventh prime minister in six-and-a-half years.

In the first election since the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters, atomic energy ended up not being a major election issue even though polls show about 80 percent of Japanese want to phase out nuclear power…….

LDP, the most pro-nuclear power party, had 118 seats before the election. A new, staunchly anti-nuclear power party won just nine seats, according to NHK.

In the end, economic concerns won out, said Kazuhisa Kawakami, a political science professor at Meiji Gakuin University.
“We need to prioritize the economy, especially since we are an island nation,” he said. “We’re not like Germany. We can’t just get energy from other countries in a pinch.”…..

The anti-nuclear Tomorrow Party – formed just three weeks ago _captured just nine seats, according to NHK. Party head Yukiko Kada said she was very disappointed to see LDP, the original promoter of Japan’s nuclear energy policy making a big comeback.

Abe, 58, is considered one of the more conservative figures in the
increasingly conservative LDP…… The LDP wants to revise Japan’s
pacifist constitution to strengthen its Self-Defense Forces and,
breaching a postwar taboo, designate them as a “military.” It also
proposes increasing Japan’s defense budget and allowing Japanese
troops to engage in “collective self-defense” operations with allies
that are not directly related to Japan’s own defense…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/japan-elections-2012-ldp-wins_n_2310527.html

December 17, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics