Restoration
of Iraqi Sovereignty a priority
Fifth
Weimar Triangle Summit statements made by M. Jacques Chirac, President Of The Republic,
during his Joint Press Conference With M. Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland, And
M. Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of The Federal Republic of Germany
AMBAFRANCE,
Kathmandu, (Wroclaw - Poland, 9 May 2003)
THE PRESIDENT –
I'd like to begin by warmly thanking my friend President Kwasniewski. We've known each
other a long time. I still feel moved by the memory of my State visit to Poland, for it's
true that historically there have been - and are still today - strong ties between the
peoples of Poland and France.
This meeting is taking
place on what is in a way a symbolic day, Europe Day. And everyone knows that Germany and
France were probably, I'd say, the leading, most active campaigners supporting Poland's
entry into the European Union. Hence our great delight today following the recent summit
and signature of the Athens Treaty, before Poland's definitive entry into the European
Union. For all Europeans, this is undoubtedly a source of strength for the future, grounds
for joy and a step towards securing peace on our continent.
We discussed the
problems the President spoke about and which are mentioned in the communiqué. We talked
about the reform of Europe's institutions, which is needed to adapt our European Union to
its enlargement. And we noted with satisfaction that, on the main points, Poland, Germany
and France have the same sort of approach, an identical approach to institutional reform.
We talked about issues
to do with Security and Defence Europe and foreign policy. And, here again, we discussed,
among other things, the recent problems arising as a result of the situation created in
Iraq. But we clearly affirmed our determination to make progress together towards a Europe
able to acquire the capabilities which are essential for its defence, of course with the
greatest regard for the Atlantic Alliance.
CAP/COHESION
We talked about the
future of the common policies, the Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion policy. And,
here again, we stated our views and noted that we were thinking along the same lines, or
at any rate had a common goal.
EU/RUSSIA
We discussed the
partnership between the European Union and Russia, which is an essential partnership for
the future and will be the subject of the next European Union-Russia meeting in St
Petersburg. We also talked about the friendly relations we all want to have with Ukraine,
to support, in particular, her development, reforms and progress on the path of democracy.
WEIMAR PROCESS
We finally talked about
our trilateral cooperation, i.e. how to follow up the Weimar process sufficiently
ambitiously for there to be concrete results, given that we have common objectives on very
many points.
CULTURE/INTER-UNIVERSITY
COOPERATION
Finally, we talked
about cultural issues and I proposed, among other things, a partnership between the
Franco-German University (1) and the Germano-Polish Viadrina University in Frankfurt (an
der Oder).
These broadly are the
main points of what we discussed.
IRAQ/NEW UNSCR
Q. – The
Americans want a new resolution at the Security Council. Are you going to support this US
resolution on Iraq?
THE PRESIDENT
– The Security Council will be discussing this draft resolution over the
next few days. So at this stage, let me confirm to you that France is minded, and I don't
think I'm sticking my neck out too far by saying that Germany is also minded to approach
these discussions on Iraq's future in an open and constructive spirit.
Our objectives are that
country's economic and political reconstruction, as the Chancellor said just now, and the
restoration as fast as possible of her full sovereignty. We remain convinced that, to
achieve these objectives and thus satisfy the Iraqi people's aspirations, the United
Nations - and we think this is the opinion of the vast majority of the world's nations and
peoples - must play a central role.
POLAND/EU/US
Q. –Do you
think that Poland could be a bridge uniting the European Union with the United States?
THE PRESIDENT
– I have the greatest respect, of course, for Poland, for the very important
and eminent services she can render the European Union today and in the future. But, to be
very frank, I don't feel that we need a bridge between the European Union and the United
States. There are a number of historical, political and institutional links. Regardless of
any differences of view we may have on specific problems, and admittedly we have some,
they don't wipe out what's most important, i.e. the very strong tie which exists, and is
known as the transatlantic link
IRAQ
WAR/VILNIUS GROUP/FRANCE
Q. – In
February, you said that the candidates who supported the war in Iraq behaved very
irresponsibly and missed an opportunity to remain silent. Many Poles felt offended. Do you
think the same thing today?
THE PRESIDENT
– The Poles were wrong to feel offended since I can't even think anything
offensive about them. It's not in my nature, or in the nature of the feelings I have
always had for the Poles and which are in fact shared by virtually everyone in France. I
simply said that when you are a family, before taking positions on external matters, there
needs to be a minimum of consultation, you need at least to inform the other members of
the family. That's what I said.
And I really don't feel
I offended anyone at all. And nor do I feel I was wrong.
(1) A network of
French and German higher-education establishments created in 1999, with many campuses and
an administrative headquarters in Saarbrücken./.
Local
Elections In Japan 2003: Voting Behaviors
By Khagda K.C,
Japan
Japan has completed its
15 nation-wide local-level elections in two phases on April 13 and 27, 2003. Japan is a
parliamentary democracy with multi-party system, where local bodies are explicitly
incorporated in its constitution. The Constitution of Japan, which came into effect on May
3,1947, stated about local-self government in its chapter 8, article 92-95. As per the
Local Government Law local bodies are categorized as; To (Metropolitan City i.e. Tokyo),
Do (a special prefecture Hokkaido), Fu (Osaka and Kyoto) and 43 Kens (prefectures). It has
been further classified into three more units as; City (Shi), Towns (Cho) and Village
(Mura). Big cities of more than 5,000000 populations have been named as designated cities,
which can enjoy more autonomy unlike the other cities. There are 655 cities (shi), 1999
towns, and 591 village level local units with 4078 wards. Tokyo is comprised of 23 special
wards (Ku), which has been recognized as special metropolitan local entity with enormous
local autonomy. Its governor heads the overall matters under whom 23 ward mayors’
work with almost equal authority to the mayors of the cities of country. The chief elected
official of To, Do, Fu and Ken is called as Chiji, and whom the people directly elect. The
prefecture assembly is named as To-gikai, Do-gikai, Fugikai and Ken-gikai. Shi-cho and
Shi-gikai are respectively known as city mayor and city assembly.
The first half of the
unified local elections held in April 13. 43 prefecture assemblies, 40 governorship and 12
assemblies of 12 government designated large cities elections were also held in the same
date. Elections for total 43 Prefecture governors and total 2364 seats for prefecture
assemblies were also held in the accomplished on the very day. There were about 382 female
candidates among the 3846 declared candidates in prefecture assembly’s elections. In
1999 when, the last time prefecture assembly elections were held 323 or 8% of the
candidates were women but this around, that figure is closer 10 percent. Similarly, 1159
people were contested for a total of 831 seats in municipal assembly elections for all
major cities except Kitakyushu (a city of Kyushu Island) Sunday April 13. In the 2nd half
unified local elections held in April 27, altogether 299 candidates contested for 123
cities mayoral seats in 41 prefectures; among them 17 of them were. In addition, 45 people
contested for mayoral elections in 14 of the 23 wards in Tokyo. Almost 10,246-city
assembly members got elected in 387 cities throughout Japan. Along with the city mayoral
assembly elections in the second half the quadrennial local elections, mayoral and
assembly elections of towns and villages also held on April the 27th.
Many candidates have
distanced themselves from parties. Local elections. Many of them showed their reluctance
to line themselves up with political parties. In the previous local elections in April
1999, the political parties of both the ruling and opposition camps supported 10 of 12
governors elected. This time "the co-operating
With the enemy"
practice has almost disappeared, except for some gubernatorial elections in some
prefectures like Fukui and Fukuoka. Politicians understand that running on a part ticket
does not guarantee success. About two-thirds of candidates did not seek backing of a
party, although half of the candidates did so in the local elections four years ago,
reflecting the declining popularity of political parties. However, about 10% of the
mayoral candidates were backed by both ruling and opposition blocks (Liberal Democratic
Party of Japan and Democratic Party of Japan) excluding the Japan Communist Party,
compared with more than 20% fours years ago, further demonstrating the decreasing clout of
them The results of first round of the local elections held on Sunday April 13, have shown
much more clearly than before that influence of political parties is on the wane. In
gubernatorial elections, which were held in 10 prefectures candidates that did not seek
backing from any political party swept to landslide victories in Tokyo and Iwate
prefecture. In Kanagawa prefecture an independent defeated a candidate jointly backed by
the three ruling collation parties the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and
Hoshu-Shinto (New Conservative Party) even though it is home to Prime Minister
Koizumi’s constituency. It might have caused the policy performance of the present
coalition government that Prime Minister Koizumi’s commitment to make structural
reform has been to some extent experimented in the elections results of his home
constituency. Major political parties showed their reluctance while presenting their
single candidate in the big city like in Tokyo. In Tokyo except for the Japan communist
Party, no party did file its own candidacy in gubernatorial elections.
A wide-range of people
irrespective of age and occupation, including those who say they do not support any
particular political party, is believed to have voted for the outspoken incumbent. They do
believe in what they have proven realistically and specifically unlike the fake promises
made by political parties. Even party faithful and majority unaffiliated voters rally
behind the independent incumbent. All party candidates were totally crushed by independent
Shintaro Ishihara reelected in the Tokyo governor elections. As a result, 70% of
unaffiliated voters and 90% percent of supporters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party
voted for Ishihara. Tokyo voters recognized his "implementation of specific policies
" he was able to draw wide support among mainly unaffiliated voters, both men and
women. Although Ishihara’s main rival, Keiko Higuchi, had the unofficial backing of
the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force and the Social Democratic
Party. According to the Kyodo news exit poll shows that only 3.3 percent of Democratic
Party of Japan supporters voted for Higuchi, fifty-nine percent said that they backed
Ishihara, the incumbent. The elections increasingly focus on candidate’s policies
unlike their attachment with political parties. Non-stop public appearances and
charismatic statements alone are not enough to win over the increasingly unaffiliated
voters. Policy has long played second fiddle to "image" helped to determine the
winner and losers in local elections. The large segment of unaffiliated voters was the
decisive masses. This is where policy played a vital role when the Asahi Shim bun (a
leading Japanese Daily newspaper) exit polls asked unaffiliated voters the reason for
deciding to vote, the leading response, at 43 percent, was the candidates characters and
image however the second most popular response at 35% was" policy espoused". In
the Tokyo gubernatorial elections Yoshiharu Wakabayashi, who ran on behalf of the Japan
Communist Party ticket, garnered votes from 70.8% of Japan Communist Party supporters but
failed to receive much support from unaffiliated voters. The survey outcomes indicate
that, the incumbent plus independent who somehow could prove his/her merit in his
erstwhile terms is the best way to judge the candidates. The majority incumbent supported
by ruling and opposition parties got reelected mayors in Tokyo wards, prefecture governors
and city mayors of the other cities of the country. Some events show that whatsoever
charged come against the incumbent, he/she relatively swept over the newcomers. Former
mayor of Wakayama city, who was in the police custody on bribery charges, during the
election got elected again in city assembly. Though, he would lose the seat if he found
guilty by the concerned district court, voters did not dare to avoid him who abused his
authority while he was working as an elected official. The election management system
seems relatively free, fair and peaceful unlike the countries here in South Asia.
Candidates do ask favor to the voters by telephone call and a very little public meeting
can be seen before the election. There are very few violences related with elections.
However in a recent election a person was arrested for allegedly pouring kerosene on an
election official and around a primary school gymnasium, which was being used as a polling
station for city assembly and mayoral elections in Yamato, Nara prefecture. It is said
that the person harbored bitter feelings toward the municipal official, who was
administering the polling station, as he had rejected various petitions, the committer had
filed in the past. Distributing money and services during the election hour is still
surfacing in the country where the people have nearly 99% literacy rate and $ 28000 per
capita income.
This author himself
visited twice to a nearby Nishi-Machi Primary School polling station in Nagasaki city,
where no security personnel were seemed around the polling areas, voters were casting vote
peacefully. There was no more representative’s from the political parties and
candidates only the officials concerned with the election commission and municipal office
were allowed to enter into the polling area. Throughout Japan average voters turnout in
April 27 local elections hit- all time lows in all categories of polls for cities, towns,
villages and Tokyo wards. The turn out was 57 percent in city mayoral elections, compared
with 60.88% in the prefecture gubernatorial and assemblies’ elections. About 57.74%
of those eligible cast ballots in city assembly elections, compared with 60.76% in the
previous local elections, well below the previously record low of 60.25% marked in 1995.
In Tokyo ward mayoral elections, the turn out was 43.55 % down from 47.36% in the previous
elections. The voting rate in town and village assembly election was 77.72 percent
compared with 82.02 %. Both the figures were new record low. Why urban voters dislike
political parties? What are the reasons behind the changing attitude of partisan support?
What can be the key determinants of voting behaviors are the pertinent and prominent
questions to be answered here. Recent opinion poll reports of Yomiuri Shimbun, a leading
Japanese daily newspaper showed that those not supporting any particular party accounted
for 59 % of eligible voters surveyed.
The figure indicates
that public distrust of political parties has continued to rise alarmingly. Among the
roles that should be played in democracy are; formulating and presenting public policies
they believe well suited to the relatives of global, national and regional situations,
making sure the political will of the people, both at the national and local levels is
reflected in the policies adopted by the central and local governments. Party should help
the young generation of political aspirants develop their careers and fielding them or
their party’s tickets. However, the rapid decline of these fundamental functions is
one of the leading causes of the weakening of the parties themselves. And it has come
about mainly because the political parties repeatedly have failed to change themselves in
response to rapid changes in the economy and society as a whole. On top of all this, a
seemingly endless ratio of scandals featuring the parties steering the central government
has spurred the decrease in the weight the political parties hold in a political system.
Eligible voters
particularly the young masses for their part are increasingly disappointed with the
failure of political parties to either inform them of how specific policy measures are
formed or to come up with any convincing visions for the future of local communities. A
kind of passive nihilist attitude has been forming among the young generations. Somehow
they seem contended with the things and process what they are consuming at the moment so
they do not driven towards further change and reform simultaneously a kind of belief-less
pessimistic masses has been also creating in Japan like in other industrial democracies of
the western world. In the recent years deteriorating Japanese economy, growing rate of
unemployment and lack of proper political education and socialization processes are also
pushing the neo-generation toward political apathy. While explains the trends in voting
behavior it can be analyzed through two models. One is classic sociological model, which
emphasizes social divisions (especially social class but also including age, sex,
religion, race etc. The other policy preference model or rational man model on which
voters are assumed to be rational and influenced individuals who have professed policy
positions. Voters consequently vote for the party that offers them the best deal from
their point o f view. The subsequent idea is to far extent applicable in the context of
Japanese electoral politics. There are no religious divisions among Japanese voters, which
can be considered influential enough to a cleavage, despite the presence of Komeito, a
political party supported by the lay Buddhist Organization, the Soka Gakkai. Such a
political party has yet to make any significant influence among the voters in the name of
religious consideration.
There is an obvious
cleavage based on regionalism however it has some region where a political party is
stronger than others but it has no strong regionalism like Nepal where candidates of hill
vs. plains is strongly prevailed. Similarly, in Japan there is no regions with a tough
ethnic divide which affects voting behavior. It is seem that the LDP has so far maintained
its strength in villages; nevertheless there also non-party candidates are gradually
sweeping the all party backing candidates. Unionized workers in the big cities so far
supported the Japan Communist Party and Socialist Party but even they are getting turned
conservative. The biggest trade union ‘Rengo’, the Japanese Trade Union
Confederation, is supporting the Lziberal Democratic Party and Liberal Party. Professional
and managers including farmers in the villages still tended to support the Liberal
Democratic Party. The majority urban voter was more likely to be progressive and rural
ones sound conservative. Since majority seats in the rural areas have been bagged by the
ruling LDP, the voter lived in a stable community of home owners, they were as previously
more likely to become conservative but those who lived in transient rented apartments more
likely to vote for a progressive parties. It is said that higher level of education would
result in higher turn out for opposition political parties. One of the uncommon trends of
voting behavior one can observe in Japan is that young generation voters voted for
conservatives and the trend is further growing. The deteriorating participation of the
neo-generation in polls and their standpoint to support the LDP above any other party is
challenging a traditional western conviction of young rather tended towards left. This all
suggests that voting behavior is more along the expressive model rather than policy and
ideological considerations. The decline in voting and partisan support is concerned with
the perspective that politics has become corrupt and the electorates feel that there is no
political force, which really can drive the country and supports their own individual
concerns. The increasing group of on-partisan supporters and growing political apathy
among the young voters may endanger the consolidation of democracy. Massive political
socialization, more economic reform, promotion of employment opportunity may to some
extent synergies the credibility of political forces and revives the participatory
approach even among the young voters.
Received through
email. The author is currently studying in Japan-Chief edito. |
