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The Pros And Cons Of The Liberal Democratic Party

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The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been the majority party for more than 40 years uninterrupted, except in 1993 and 2009. In 1993, members of the party defected to form a new party, losing the majority control of the party, hence losing control of the government. This temporary loss of power gave reformers a chance at changing the Japanese political structure to include two main parties that regularly alternate power. In 2009 the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won the majority seats. The LDP took back the majority in 2012. During DPJ’s tenure in power, the devastating 2011 Japanese earthquake occurred. When Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko pushed through a controversial sales tax consumption increase bill through the National Diet. December of that year, the LDP was able to pressure Prime Minister Noda to dissolve the lower house, leading to the LDP gaining the majority. Then in 2013, the LDP reached majority in the upper house too, effectively taking back control of the government. The Diet has been lopsidedly dominated by the LDP over three or four other smaller parties that had practically no chance of controlling the government. However due to pressures from the LDP, the reformers were forced to compromise to retain certain aspects of the old system intact. Many experts believe that the electoral reform does not have a high chance of creating a two-party system that is like the US. The LDP is a conservative political party, formed in 1955 with the merger of Liberal

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