61431    It was no accident that out of the three major ruling parties, the Northern League turned its back on the prime minister.

61432    This regional party, which speaks for the interest of the North and insists on forming a federation with the have-not South, was in conflict with other ruling parties.

61433    It is evident that there was this fragile political culture in Italy with a large gap between North and South behind the en masse resignation of the Cabinet.

61434    Overcoming this regionalism will also be a challenge for the future.

61435    The Christian Democratic Party and the Socialist Party that had lead Italian politics after the end of World War II were dissolved one after the other last year.

61436    There is no going back to the postwar system even after the right-wing administration resigns.

61437    Will the political change this time around mean the beginning of new disarray, or become labor pains leading to genuine political reform?

61438    The political trend in Italy, a country that borders the Balkans, which are unsettled by ethnic conflicts, affects the whole of Europe.

61439    We are looking at Italy's recovery with anticipation.

61440    The New Year has dawned and this year will be the milestone "fiftieth year since the end of the war."

61441    It is hoped that this year will see the prospect of a new direction for Japan to face up to the 21st century in light of the post Cold War and the bursting of the asset-inflated bubble, but the Japanese political world continues to be in limbo.

61442    According to the opinion poll conducted last month by the Mainichi Newspapers, 44 percent of respondents "do not support any party," up 3 percent over the previous survey in September, thus indicating the further acceleration of voters' "estrangement from politics."

61443    In the summer of the year before last, the non-LDP coalition government headed by Prime Minister Hosokawa was established, ending 38 years of the "single-party rule" political system under the Liberal Democratic Party for the Japanese political community.

61444    Also last year, the LDP, the Social Democratic Party and Sakigake Party formed a coalition and the Murayama administration was inaugurated.

61445    While each event was a significant political shift and had an enormous impact on postwar politics, in looking back at the past year and a half, it appears that the people's frustration and disappointment have been amplified since even though these major changes in politics occurred, they stopped short of turning into a large-scale political reform to reach and destroy the innermost core of the existing political structure.