Shinichi Uehara, who is also a professor at the Graduate School of Kokushikan University in Tokyo, arrived here on September 18 along with photographer Hiromasa Takeuchi to observe the primary election. Uehara, in an interview on Tuesday, said that he finds the political system and the Palauan people very interesting.
The journalist said he has visited the country 30 times and he has written a book about Palau and yet Palauans never seize to amaze him.“I want to understand Palau totally, not only the place, its constitution, the political system and the history but also the people as well,” he said.“I think they have a very strange system here. Of course they have a democratic kind of government but the people’s choice is very limited. The proposed constitutional amendments I don’t know if it’s bad for Palau or good but I find it strange,” Uehara said referring to the proposed 22 constitutional amendments.“I think that is crucial and as an outsider, I can’t understand that’s why I’ m here to observe what they do in their election here, to have a better understanding of the system,” he said.“This experience will teach me about Palauan’s democratic thinking and traditional thinking,” he added.Takeuchi also shared Uehara’s observation. It was his second visit to Palau and he said Palauan’s political consciousness is very high.“Which is of course very surprising. Their political consciousness here are higher than the ordinary Japanese people. But I can’t imagine a president of a country with only 20,000 people,” Takeuchi said.“But one of the most impressive thing that I observed here is that the politician interact closely with the people. I observed their campaign and the politician talked closely to the people and they do that without any escorts or bodyguard. That’s very impressive and they have also a peaceful election, which is good,” he said.Euhara has been a journalist for 20 years now. He first came here in 1986 for diving activities. He wrote a book about Palau, which was published in Japan in 1990.Takeuchi’s first visit was in 1999. The two are leaving on Saturday.
