Japanese Prime Minister, Kan, Quits under criticism. - Polidicks

[quote=BBC] Japan's beleaguered Prime Minister Naoto Kan has announced his resignation, clearing the way for the country's sixth leader in five years. Mr Kan has been criticised for failing to show leadership after the devastating 11 March earthquake and tsunami, and ensuing nuclear crisis. In June, Mr Kan pledged to quit if parliament passed three key pieces of legislation, which it did on Friday. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan will choose a new leader on Monday. Mr Kan's successor as party head will almost certainly become Japan's next prime minister. Challenges ahead Mr Kan announced his decision to stand down at a DPJ meeting, which was broadcast to the nation. He is expected to give a news conference later on Friday. Looking back on nearly 15 months in office, Mr Kan said he had done all he could given the difficulties he faced, including the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and political infighting - including within his own party. "Under the severe circumstances, I feel I've done everything that I had to do," he said. "Now I would like to see you choose someone respectable as a new prime minister." The 64-year-old's resignation had been widely expected, and comes amid tumbling public support. On 2 June he won a no confidence vote in the Diet (parliament), only by making a promise to step down at a future date. The Diet passed the final two bills out of three earlier on Friday - one on the budget, the other promoting renewable energy - which he had set as a condition for his departure. The BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says the new prime minister will have to oversee the biggest reconstruction effort in Japan since WWII and resolve the nuclear crisis at Fukushima where reactors are still leaking radiation. They will also have to persuade the markets that Japan can overcome a divided parliament to address the biggest national debt in the industrialised world, our correspondent says. Seiji Maehara, a hawk on China who argues for pursuing growth before raising taxes to restore the nation's fiscal health, is favourite among the public. But the decision will be made by the governing party's Diet members. Reports in Japan say Ichiro Ozawa, who leads the biggest faction despite the suspension of his party membership over a political funding scandal, is unlikely to support the former foreign minister. Other possible successors include Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Trade Minister Banri Kaieda. Slow recovery The twin natural disasters claimed more than 15,700 lives, and more than 4,500 people remain unaccounted for. Survivors in Japan's devastated north-east have complained about slow recovery efforts. The resulting crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is the world's worst nuclear accident in a generation. Three of the six reactors melted down after the tsunami and 9.0-magnitude quake wrecked cooling systems. The opposition and many in Mr Kan's own party said he failed to show leadership in the crisis, and was too slow in acknowledging the severity of the disaster. The crisis also revealed serious flaws in the nuclear industry's regulatory systems and safety standards. Workers are continuing to bring the plant to a cold shutdown by January. However, nearly six months on many of the 80,000 people who were evacuated from the area are living in temporary housing or shelters, with no indication of when or if they will be able to return home.[/quote] Can't stand the heat, get outta the kitchen. Sauce: [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-14675445[/url]

He had done what he promised, at least. stepping down at a future date, that is.

He thought he Kan, but I guess he Kan't...

[QUOTE]clearing the way for the country's sixth leader in five years.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure how I feel about something like this.

Well considering what happened and what was done, I do not think even The president of the United States would have even had a chance at reelection.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvrI3wy_TGk[/media] I'm sorry, that had to be posted.

[QUOTE=rsa1988;31954213]Well considering what happened and what was done, I do not think even The president of the United States would have even had a chance at reelection.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I think Bush was lucky Katrina was in 2005 and not in 2003, he woulda been out so fast.

[QUOTE=leach139;31954437][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtXE7iSc6pM[/media] I'm sorry, that had to be posted.[/QUOTE] Beat me to it.

[QUOTE=Atlascore;31954185]"The country's sixth leader in five years"? Holy shit, they must be having huge political problems in Japan if people are resigning left and right.[/QUOTE] At least they have the sense to stand down when they can't get the job done.

I hear 0,5% of the population is related to him.

[QUOTE=mac338;31954911]I hear 0,5% of the population is related to him.[/QUOTE] All people are related to each other

[QUOTE=Atlascore;31955146]I think that was supposed to be a joke about Genghis Khan.[/QUOTE] Oh okay, then

[QUOTE=Atlascore;31954185]"The country's sixth leader in five years"? Holy shit, they must be having huge political problems in Japan if people are resigning left and right.[/QUOTE] To be honest, it doesn't sound that bad to me. We get re-elections often and i'd rather elect a guy that knows when to quit than some prick that doesn't know when to stop. It's Japanese culture to take responsebility. Usually means resigning.

[QUOTE=Atlascore;31954185]"The country's sixth leader in five years"? Holy shit, they must be having huge political problems in Japan if people are resigning left and right.[/QUOTE] I suspect that the prime minister is just a figurehead to smile, kiss babies and take responsibility. The real power probably lies in the leader of a faction in the political party.

so many MPs in japan, they have a new one each year, really... jesus christ.

[QUOTE=Vedicardi;31967705]so many MPs in japan, they have a new one each year, really... jesus christ.[/QUOTE] When I was there this summer, public sentiment seemed to be against the DPJ, but not necessarily in support of of the LDPJ, the main opposition party. [editline]27th August 2011[/editline] Of the people I asked and campaign posters I saw that is.

Seppuku time.

[QUOTE=sami-elite;31955253]To be honest, it doesn't sound that bad to me. We get re-elections often and i'd rather elect a guy that knows when to quit than some prick that doesn't know when to stop. It's Japanese culture to take responsebility. Usually means resigning.[/QUOTE] The truth is, most people resign in order to avoid responsibility. Japanese politics is all about shunting responsibility onto someone else. Hence, nothing ever changes.

[QUOTE=Stromboli;31969232]The truth is, most people resign in order to avoid responsibility. Japanese politics is all about shunting responsibility onto someone else. Hence, nothing ever changes.[/QUOTE] Japanese politics is certainly pretty stagnant.

[QUOTE=Stromboli;31969232]The truth is, most people resign in order to avoid responsibility. Japanese politics is all about shunting responsibility onto someone else. Hence, nothing ever changes.[/QUOTE] I can see how resigning doesn't actually solve the problem yeah. But on the other hand, the next guy knows what's going on and will have a fresh look on how to solve it. In the end, it's still politics i guess. Same shit everywhere.

Kan didn't deserve all this criticism, the March earthquake was handled as good as anyone could. It's just that everyone is sick and tired of politics, which is why the DPJ got elected in the first place, and the LDP was quick as ever to start blaming and complaining about everything. But Kan's real problem was that he had so little support even from within the party. I'm in the boat of people who just want the prime minister to sit a full term for once.

[QUOTE=jA_cOp;31970540]Kan didn't deserve all this criticism, the March earthquake was handled as good as anyone could. It's just that everyone is sick and tired of politics, which is why the DPJ got elected in the first place, and the LDP was quick as ever to start blaming and complaining about everything. But Kan's real problem was that he had so little support even from within the party. I'm in the boat of people who just want the prime minister to sit a full term for once.[/QUOTE] I didn't see a whole lot of support for the SDPJ or the JCP, why is that?

[QUOTE=Megafanx13;31970692]I didn't see a whole lot of support for the SDPJ or the JCP, why is that?[/QUOTE] Socialist and communist parties aren't mainstream in Japan for the same reason they're not mainstream in the USA, anti-communism has been strong in Japan ever since the Russian revolution. However, the JCP isn't a small party at all. I think they have about 7% of votes these days, which is a fair bit in a multi-party system. As for the SDP, being more center-wing than the JCP and a much more recent party, is much more liable to have its members absorbed into other parties when coalitions appear and such. And Japan still has the one party system mentality of the pre-1993 days entrenched in it, small parties are unlikely to succeed without forming coalitions.

[QUOTE=jA_cOp;31970902]As for the SDP, being more center-wing than the JCP and a much more recent party, is much more liable to have its members absorbed into other parties when coalitions appear and such. And Japan still has the one party system mentality of the pre-1993 days entrenched in it, small parties are unlikely to succeed without forming coalitions.[/QUOTE] I remember reading about that. The SDP came from the old Socialist Party if I'm not mistaken, and as a result of its prior status, lost a lot of support.

Finland has a socialist democrat party [IMG]http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-buddy.gif[/IMG] Edit: But it's not communistic. Edit2: because communist is bad, very bad and all communists go to hell.

[QUOTE=Strongbad;31952936]Can't stand the heat, get outta the kitchen.[/QUOTE] dont be alarmed its just a little radiation

[QUOTE=Falchion;31971307]Edit: But it's not communistic. Edit2: because communist is bad, very bad and all communists go to hell.[/QUOTE] Either satire, or just really stupid.

As long as they keep funding the development of mobile suits, I'm fine with this

Holy shit I never knew we had a Japanese FPer From what I've been reading I think that he did a decent enough job after the tsunami, way better than how we handled Katrina anyway Sucks that the blame gets put on him even when it was out of his control

[QUOTE=Falchion;31967977]Seppuku time.[/QUOTE] Dammit, I was going to go with a "I bet he feels gutted" joke.