“We shouldn’t create at will a political vacuum that would cause policies to stall.”-Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan, 29 October 2012

The “political vacuum” the Prime Minister is talking about concerns his loss of political power: “Noda wants to delay the day of reckoning as long as possible. Who would call an election now knowing that over 100 parliament seats would be lost, putting the party on the brink of collapse?”-Harumi Arima, political analyst

Noda is using the now catastrophic Japanese economy as an excuse not to dissolve the Lower House of Parliament: “If the situation is left as it is, administrative services could stall, which would seriously affect people’s livelihoods and thwart efforts to revive the economy.”-Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan, 29 October 2012

Dissolving the Lower House is a necessary step in Japan, before elections can be held.

The above statements were made two days ago. Today, 31 October 2012, Noda confronted critics, saying he will decide when the time is right for elections, and the time will be right only when the economic situation is properly addressed: “I will make a decision on the dissolution after doing some necessary tasks and preparing responses to the economic situation.”-Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan, 31 October 2012

Just how bad is the economy in Japan?  For one, the Japanese government has more debt than the Greek government.

For two, Japanese companies are experiencing huge drops in sales, so much so that tens of thousands of Japanese have lost their jobs in the past year alone.

For three: “The situation is worse than we had expected earlier, and we have a severe outlook for the second half. Digital consumer businesses such as TV, cameras, Blu-ray disc players and PCs worsened faster than we had expected three months ago.”-Hideaki Kawai, CFO Panasonic

For four: “We don’t see when bad news will stop coming out.”-Kazuyuki Terao, Allianz Global Investors Japan Co.

Prime Minister Noda stated today, that before elections could be held he wanted policies passed that would issue debt covering bonds, drastically change the retirement program for Japanese, and other additional economic austerity measures by the end of November.  These are inline with what the International Monetary Fund ordered just days ago.

Noda also admitted that he wanted the right environment to correct the disparity in Lower House, meaning he wanted to make sure his political party got most of the seats!

Delaying elections is also about maintaining regional power, with the backing of the United States.

Two days ago Noda mentioned growing disputes between China, Russia and Korea, South: “Achieving relationships of trust with surrounding countries such as China, South Korea and Russia, with a comprehensive view, strengthens the foundations on which Japan and the whole region enjoy peace and prosperity. It is one of the grave responsibilities a country has to fulfill.”