One of the first policy victims of Japan’s incoming Liberal Democratic Party is likely to be the commitment to phasing out nuclear power. The promise made after Fukushima does not sit well with the pro-business party.
As the country nears the two-year anniversary of the second-worst nuclear accident in history, the protests continue every Friday night outside the official residence of the prime minister of Japan. The demonstrations are very Japanese in their nature; more colorful than confrontational and polite instead of provocative.
But it seems likely that these people, drawn from all walks of life in this post-nuclear disaster nation, are to be disappointed in their campaign to have the government adhere to its predecessor’s promise to do away with Japan’s reliance on nuclear energy by the latter half of the 2030s.
Even in the run-up to the nation’s general election on December 16, the LDP was making its intention to re-evaluate the promises made in the wake of the disaster known. And four days after the vote, as Prime Minister-elect Shinzo Abe was still putting together his cabinet, additional pressure was heaped upon a party that has in the past come in for criticism for having relationships with big business that some see as being just a little too cozy.
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