In Parliamentary Elections, Japan Chooses a Pro-Nuclear Conservative Party
Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) leader and next Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends a news conference at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo December 17, 2012. Abe, piled pressure on the central bank on Monday to ease monetary policy, saying it should respect Sunday’s election results that showed public support for his calls for more aggressive monetary stimulus. REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN – Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)
In Japan, the main opposition party, the conservative LDP, won the parliamentary elections.
This means former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will most likely get another chance to lead the nation again.
This is a shift to the right for Japan, and more surprisingly perhaps, a show of support for a pro-nuclear party, in a country devastated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster a year and a half ago.
The Tsunami that wiped out part of the northeastern coast of Japan, caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, and reconstruction has been slow.
All but two of the nuclear reactors had been turned off-line under the leadership of the democratic party, or DPJ.
But the newly elected conservative party plans to turn them back on.
Steve Herman, Voice of America Northeast Asia Bureau Chief was in Tokyo this weekend to cover the election.
He said the reason for this vote comes down to the poor state of the economy in the country.