Learning from LDP

But why did the Japanese after having accepted Koizumi's reforms and felt good about him, later rejected the LDP? It was a sign of desperation that the LDP PM, Taro Aso shamelessly tried to disown the reforms started by Koizumi. He has said that he wasn't in favor of privatizing the postal services or something. His spineless about face amounted to an act of political hara-kiri. You shoot your own foot and expect to walk normally. Aso may have his strategic reasons for doing so, but his words and deeds provided the impetus for Japanese to reject en bloc anything the LDP does. The universal Japanese sentiment was captured by the phrase ABL- Anything but LDP.

Why such intense revulsion? LDP has had 54 years of almost uninterrupted role as the bridesmaid to Japan's economic prosperity and world eminence. There answer seems that there was a general feeling that the LDP was losing touch and that it wasn't delivering for everybody - that it was working for small cliques and business groups rather than what was good for Japan as a whole.

Briefly ousted in 1993, the LDP got back in via a coalition deal with its rival, the Japan Socialist Party. But over the next decade it did not deal with the fundamental issue of why it had lost power - and calls for change were getting louder.

Koizumi-style

Then Junichiro Koizumi came along and bought the LDP more time. He promised economic reforms and reached out to urban voters by bringing more women and experts into his government. He vowed to curb the giant public works projects that brought the LDP rural votes and to privatise the post office - a policy that put him on a collision course with his own party.

When his reforms were voted down in parliament, he expelled LDP lawmakers who opposed him and called a snap election. He portrayed the poll as a fight against traditionalists within his own party who were resisting change - and voters backed him in huge numbers. In 2005 it was not the LDP that was popular, it was Koizumi - and what Koizumi said was that he would change Japan by changing the LDP. That's what people voted for.

But he couldn't do it alone. He needed a support system. That's where he got screwed. Japan's system of hereditary politicians had led "to a significant diminishing in the pool of talent" within the LDP, according to Professor Koichi Nakano of Tokyo's Sophia University. Mr Koizumi's three successors - all sons or grandsons of former prime ministers - lacked his style. All came under fire for poor cabinet choices and their handling of ministerial scandals. Mr Koizumi's reform agenda was also watered down, leaving some voters feeling betrayed.

'Fed up'

Shinzo Abe, who replaced Mr Koizumi, focused on issues such as patriotism and constitutional reform. But voters did not care. Instead, they were outraged by the loss of pension payment records and increasingly worried about whether the welfare system could cope with the population shift. It was the Economy that people was interested in. It was a bread and butter issue all along.

They vented their anger in upper house elections in 2007, awarding control to the DPJ. Mr Abe stood down and Yasuo Fukuda took over, but legislative deadlock led to his grey-faced resignation months later.

Then Taro Aso took office - and the economic crisis hit. Giants such as Toyota posted their first annual losses in decades. Businesses empowered by Koizumi-era labour reforms cut contract staff loose. Graduates failed to find jobs and unemployment soared.

Mr Aso did not help matters by making a series of embarrassing gaffes. His cabinet served him poorly too; his finance minister seemed to be drunk at a G8 summit, though he blamed cold remedies for his slurred speech.

A groundswell of public unhappiness coincided with the emergence of the DPJ as a credible alternative - and one with a manifesto promising welfare spending. People's mood has reached a point where people want to try something new. They want change and they're fed up with the LDP. There's not a huge amount to choose between the two parties. But some of the things the DPJ are talking about are touching a nerve with the electorate.

PM Najib must be resolute in doing the required changes that he has planned. Just like Koizumi, he must be aware that this moment, he is more popular than UMNO the brand. UMNO has become a discredited brand and the general feeling is it was losing touch and that it wasn't delivering for everybody - which it was working for small cliques and business groups rather than what was good for Malaysia as a whole.

PM Najib cant do his agenda alone. Like Koizumi he needs a support system which presently he is hard-pressed in finding. He must be assisted not by a diminishing talent pool. Otherwise whatever reforms his agenda strive for will be watered down. It will be not because his reforms are inherently bad, but they will crumble when entrusted into the hands of sub standard leadership material. Why hasn't the panic button been pushed? What are the 3 UMNO VPs doing? The wardlords?

The paralysing virus that has set in, blocks UMNO from becoming aware of grassroots sentiments. UMNO leaders are behaving like they are in the business as usual mode. They are there to exploit whatever milkable nest feathering opportunities are still available. Anwar Ibrahim is going around, unchallenged in saying that UMNO ministers and leaders are now ransacking the country's coffers in order to prepare for the party's demise.

PM Najib mustn't lose sight of the overriding concern- the economy. We have announced the stimulus packages and yet, the effects of such packages have all but trickled down to the people. Investments in Nusa Jaya in Johore haven't been that great. Singapore isn't as enthusiastic as it's made out to be. The various economic corridors are falling in the same scandalous quicksand- they are emerging as the new propped up old wine in a new bottle business entities sucking up, competing and dishing out business opportunities for cliques and small groups. They are not doing anything new but are re-hatching the same old plots.

Do pre-emptive strikes. Carry out plans to bring benefits direct to the people. Cut off the middlemen and intermediary contraptions. Do a DPJ thing for the people. Concentrate on policies that regenerate the ties that bring people together, that rebuild welfare and medical systems, that provide better education and child-rearing support, and that address wealth disparities. Move away from a corporate-centric economic model to one that focuses on helping people.

What are the populist tools available? Perhaps they consist of forms of cash handouts to families and low income groups, toll-free highways, a higher minimum wage and tax cuts. These will be expensive and PM Najib has to find ways to finance them. Anything that brings in revenue to the government must be exploited to lighten the bill. The government must cut waste and rely on untapped financial reserves to fund their programs. Be mindful of what the LDP and DPJ are doing differently- the Liberal Democrats' are spending on public projects and infrastructure, but the Democrats promises to spend on family and education.