As Lower House elections near, each political party needs to accelerate the work of writing its "manifesto" or detailed election platform. As the coming election will be one in which voters choose a government, stuffing a manifesto with money-splashing projects is not likely to win people's hearts. It will be important for each party, though, to present a limited number of pillar policies that indicate to people the kind of society it wants to create.
In the coming election, the voters will pass verdict on the policy line that the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito have pursued since the days of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The LDP should make clear its stance on the retrenchment policy line of Mr. Koizumi.
After voters handed an overwhelming victory to the LDP in the September 2005 Lower House election, the nation's social security system, including pensions and medical services, developed serious problems, and poverty has become a social issue.