Japanese voters will pass a verdict on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms in the July 29 Upper House election, campaigning for which officially started on Thursday. The poll comes at a critical moment for Japan's beleaguered economy, which is still struggling to recover from a decade-long slump. The overriding concern is whether Koizumi's much-touted recovery scenario will really work.
This election is different in more ways than one. Normally in a national election, political parties compete on particular policy issues. This is not happening this time around. The Liberal Democratic Party is not laying out any specific action plans, nor are the opposition parties coming up with specific alternatives of their own. The reform slogans, to be sure, are attractive, like fireworks on a summer night. But voters are left wondering how the reforms will affect their daily lives.
This is regrettable, particularly because the coming election is likely to determine Japan's future course. There is no turning back to the cozy ways of the old economy. The political parties should tell the voters more candidly and more specifically about the pain that the reforms will entail, instead of talking only of dreams and hopes.