February 21, 2010
HOPEY-CHANGEY HARI-KARI:
Japan PM's party loses local election as support sinks (AFP, Feb 22, 2010)
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 21, 2010 8:03 PM
Japan's ruling party lost a local election at the weekend amid funding scandals as a poll showed support for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's cabinet almost halved since he took office five months ago. [...]The election loss came after a series of accounting irregularities that have led to the indictment of former aides of Hatoyama and DPJ heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa.
The election, seen as a prelude to elections for the national parliament's upper house in July, "showed the 'money-and-politics' problems... are dampening the DPJ's steam," the nationwide daily Mainichi Shimbun reported Monday.