Inside Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party Crisis | Success and Scandals - video Dailymotion

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Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated politics since 1955, but recent years have been marked by both significant successes and major scandals. From a massive political funding scandal implicating top leaders to historic election losses and shifting public trust, the LDP faces an existential crisis. WATCH.&nbsp;

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00:00Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, LDP, is a huge big-tent electoral machine that has

00:10governed the nation for all but four years since it began 70 years ago. Prime Minister Shigeru

00:16Ishiba decided to resign as the leader of the ruling party Sunday after recent election losses

00:22that deprived the Conservative Party of a legislative majority for the first time since

00:282009. Let's look at the history of the LDP, what it believes in, and the reasons for its decades of

00:35success. The LDP began in 1955 as a merger between two Conservative parties and governed constantly

00:51until 1993, overseeing a huge expansion of the economy and living standards. During the Cold

00:59War, the United States, which still has 54,000 troops in Japan, channeled millions of dollars

01:05to the party as a bulwark against communism. During this time, the smaller Japan Socialist Party

01:11served largely as a check on the government rather than aiming to win power itself. In the process,

01:18the LDP attracted all kinds of special interests, including farming and business lobbies as well

01:25as religious groups, resulting in multiple cases of corruption. Beneath the surface lurks fierce rivalry

01:39among factions, resulting in regular changes of leader, 27 since 1955, which act as a substitute for

01:47changes in government. All its leaders have been men, and only around 13% of its current MPs are women.

01:55In 2021, women were invited to attend key party meetings, but they weren't allowed to speak.

02:01The party has generally leaned towards big government spending, market-friendly economic policies,

02:09socially conservative values, and a robust alliance with the United States. But it is a large tent,

02:16grouping big government advocates, political doves focused on economic growth and nationalists

02:22pushing traditional family values. Rather than basing their actions on a certain ideology,

02:28the party has acted as voters tell it, analysts said. LDP factions, despite their deep divisions,

02:35have chosen to stick together to stay in power.

02:46In 1993, the LDP was kicked out of power for the first time after the dramatic bursting of Japan's

02:53rise, 1980s, asset bubble, and a corruption scandal. But the fragile coalition government of small groups,

03:00including several LDP defectors, didn't even last a year, and the party was back in power in 1994.

03:08In 2009, the LDP again lost power in a landslide, replaced for a chaotic three years by the center-left

03:16Democratic Party of Japan. The DPJ's policy failures and its clumsy response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear

03:24disaster allowed the LDP under Shinzo Abe to return to power in late 2012.

03:31The LDP remains associated with the post-war economic miracle, especially among older voters in rural areas.

03:47Japan's electoral system also favors the well-funded and well-organized LDP with a national network of

03:54supporters and special interests. The system has prevented smaller parties from staying in government

04:00for an extended period of time. The LDP has been back in power since 2012,

04:14in coalition with Komeito, a moderate party backed by Buddhist group Soka Gakkai.

04:21Ishiba won the LDP leadership around a year ago after voter discontent over inflation,

04:27and a new scandal sank his predecessor, Fumio Kishida. Kishida, in power for three years,

04:33replaced Yoshihide Suga, who in turn succeeded Shinzo Abe, known for his nationalist views and

04:40Abenomics. After Abe's assassination in 2022, the LDP has faced intense public outrage on revelations that

04:49its members kept a slush fund and underreported income from fundraisers. The crisis is seen as a major

04:56factor for the LDP's recent election defeats. Despite the LDP's falling popularity,

05:02the opposition bloc has remained divided and has failed to serve as an effective political alternative.

Inside Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party Crisis | Success and Scandals

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