Has Australia caught the dreaded Japanese disease of revolving prime ministers while Japan itself experiences relative political stability? Over the last two years, while Japan has had one prime minister, Australia has had three and could switch to a fourth before long. The decision to award a knighthood to a prince may cost the prime minister his political throne: Irony does not come in more delicious flavors. The opposition Labor Party cannot contain its schadenfreude.
A motion to declare the Liberal Party leadership vacant was defeated 61-39 on Monday. With 41 Cabinet ministers and party whips required to vote in support of the prime minister, Tony Abbott was effectively rejected by two-thirds of his backbench despite no challenger, backstabbing or destabilization campaign.
Damningly, in an opinion poll published in The Australian on Monday, Abbott's net satisfaction rating (the margin between approval-disapproval of his performance) is minus 44; the opposition leader is the preferred prime minister over Abbott by 18 percent; and Labor's lead in the polls is 14 percent compared to the 7 percent margin by which Labor lost the election in September 2013. Australians would prefer Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull as leader by a stratospheric 64-25, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop by a staggering 59-27, margin. Abbott may be mortally wounded and unlikely to survive for long.