|
I totally forgotten about this thread.. Although I had already posted in the News Stories, I guess I will now clarify my stance now that things seem to have changed from the obvious to the unexpected.
Honestly, considering that Hatoyama had immediately resigned as soon as Ozawa stepped down the other day, who would have thought that he will suddenly become the new leader a few days after his resignation? Apparently, he resigned due to his strong loyalty to Ozawa and for that same reason, he will now be assigning Ozawa to a key position.
From the looks of it.. I don't see any changes to the current policies of the DPJ, it will most likely be an Ozawa puppet regime in which the shadow minister will be pulling strings behind the scenes, whereas if Okada was elected.. Things would be slightly different. The guy will try to balance his anti-corruption image while trying to please China without becoming corrupted which is an extremely difficult task. The good thing about Okada is that he is only 55 compared to his rivals and opposition who are 62 and 68 respectively. Also, Okada is against the unrealistic financial proposals by Ozawa and that he enjoys strong public popularity for two reasons, one is that he keeps a distance from Ozawa and seems to be non-corrupted. However, his foreign policies are very problematic and if he becomes the next foreign minister, there will certainly be various changes in terms of bilateral relations. Japan-US relations will mostly likely deteriorate at a faster speed, while relations with China will definitely put Japan in a very disadvantageous position. However, chances are that Okada will most likely aim for a higher position than foreign minister meaning that this will probably not occur.
Currently, Hatoyama is the leader and Ozawa will take the election campaign committee seat, while Okada and Kan will be chosen for the seats Secretary-General and Acting President. If Okada becomes the Secretary-General, internal conflicts within the DPJ will definitely not occur and the public approval of the DPJ will increase. However, if Kan takes the seat instead leaving Okada in the Acting President position, the opposite will most likely occur and it may prompt Hatoyama to step down again causing some significant mess..
How will the blue-blooded Hatoyama make the decision for his party realignment? And more importantly, how will Hatoyama organize his future cabinet if the DPJ successfully oust the LDP from power in the upcoming general election? The boring times has finally passed and an interesting era has returned..
|