Japanese Politicians Campaign Ahead of Upper House Elections
- 14 years ago
Japanese politicians kicked off campaigning on Thursday ahead of a July 11 upper house election. Japan's new Prime Minister Naoto Kan and several celebrity candidates are scrambling for voter support.
Prime Minister Kan urged voters to back his push to rein in Japan's huge debt.
Kan, in the top job for less than a month, is hoping voters will give his Democratic Party of Japan a second chance. So far he's had a rocky start—his government's ratings took a nosedive after funding scandals and public doubts about its ability to govern.
Kan has made steps to control Japan's huge public debt, including a possible doubling of the 5 percent sales tax, a centerpiece of his campaign. He's gambling that voters will swallow future higher taxes to fund bulging social security costs.
[Naoto Kan, Japanese Prime Minister]: (Japanese, male)
"Some people say they can't vote for us since I keep talking about raising the sales tax."
After the Democratic Party floated the idea of raising the sales tax, support for the government fell to around 50 percent.
Kan's party will run the government regardless of who wins the July 11 upper house election, because it has a majority in the lower house. But without an outright majority, the Democratic Party must rely on smaller coalition partners.
To help secure this year's election, the party has enlisted a number of celebrity candidates to help attract young voters. For example, judo medalist Ryoko Tani.
[Ryoko Tani, Japanese Democratic Party]: (Japanese, female)
"I hope to contribute my strong mentality cultivated through my judo experience to the world of politics. That is why I decided to run for the upper house election."
Some Japanese women were happy listen to what she had to say.
[...]
Prime Minister Kan urged voters to back his push to rein in Japan's huge debt.
Kan, in the top job for less than a month, is hoping voters will give his Democratic Party of Japan a second chance. So far he's had a rocky start—his government's ratings took a nosedive after funding scandals and public doubts about its ability to govern.
Kan has made steps to control Japan's huge public debt, including a possible doubling of the 5 percent sales tax, a centerpiece of his campaign. He's gambling that voters will swallow future higher taxes to fund bulging social security costs.
[Naoto Kan, Japanese Prime Minister]: (Japanese, male)
"Some people say they can't vote for us since I keep talking about raising the sales tax."
After the Democratic Party floated the idea of raising the sales tax, support for the government fell to around 50 percent.
Kan's party will run the government regardless of who wins the July 11 upper house election, because it has a majority in the lower house. But without an outright majority, the Democratic Party must rely on smaller coalition partners.
To help secure this year's election, the party has enlisted a number of celebrity candidates to help attract young voters. For example, judo medalist Ryoko Tani.
[Ryoko Tani, Japanese Democratic Party]: (Japanese, female)
"I hope to contribute my strong mentality cultivated through my judo experience to the world of politics. That is why I decided to run for the upper house election."
Some Japanese women were happy listen to what she had to say.
[...]