Od euforii do rozczarowania. Analiza rządów premiera Hatoyamy Yukio

From euphoria to disenchantment. An analysis of Hatoyama Yukio’s premiership

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) achieved a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections of 2009. When the government of Hatoyama Yukio was formed in September 2009, it enjoyed the confidence of the majority of Japanese society. Nevertheless, this euphoria quickly turned into disappointment, and Hatoyama had to resign after only eight months in office. This article tries to explain the reasons of Hatoyama’s failure.
The DPJ promised to conduct a thorough reform of the Japanese political and economic system by eliminating the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) style of policymaking. It turned out, however, that some old practices were common also to the new ruling party. The DPJ had announced that it would break the ties between the politicians and the world of bureaucrats and businessmen. Prime Minister Hatoyama managed to weaken the influence of the bureaucrats on the decision-making process, but his party proved untrustworthy in the fight against corruption practices. Illegal donations to General Secretary of DPJ Ozawa Ichirō and to Hatoyama himself contributed to a decrease in the support for the government. A direct cause of the prime minister’s resignation was his inability to renegotiate the Japan-U.S. agreement on the relocation of Futenma military base. Faced with strong opposition even within his own party, Hatoyama had to prematurely step down from office.