Weak Opposites

Under the 1955 Regime in Japan, which represented bilateral antagonism along with the Cold War, the role of opposite party was to reject everything what the leading would do. Now, the opposites are too busy in their own survival to stand against Prime Minister and his colleagues. Consequently, arbitral power dominates in politics without effective check and balance. If one could see any excessiveness in Japan politics, it stems from weakness of the opposite power.

A significant setback of the opposites can see in endless turmoil in Japan Restoration Party. Frustrated with slow progress in regional political reform, Co-president of the party, or Mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, keeps on criticizing party leadership in Tokyo. On salary cut of legislators, Hashimoto harshly accused the party’s reluctance on continuing temporary reduction of the reward for contributing to reconstruction budget for the disastrous earthquake.

The standpoint of the Restoration Party is still not determined in terms of distance from current administration. Ultra-right movement in the party, led by another Co-president, Shintaro Ishihara, urges Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, to abolish Article IX of the Constitution, while liberal legislators are against party leadership, namely in constitutional amendment or nuclear energy policy. Drawn into internal struggles, the party cannot determine its direction.

Decline of Your Party is more apparent than Restoration Party. Not being able to support its leader’s attitude too close to Abe, some legislators left the party to raise a new party last year. After President Yoshimi Watanabe got into a quagmire of money scandal, Your Party chose another leader, Kei-ichiro Asao, whose political standpoint is not clearly recognized to the public.

Yuinotoh, established by escapers of Your Party, is looking for its policy partners. While it looks to merge with Restoration Party, Ishihara is reluctant to it, labeling Yuinotoh as constitutional protectionists.

Looking those troubles in mid-size and small parties, reformers in Democratic Party of Japan got sober in reshuffling of opposite parties. One of those leaders, Goshi Hosono, established his faction inside DPJ, only to support current leadership of DPJ. However, other leaders in the party do not show any political integration, lagging behind in regaining their lost causes. It will take time to make a core of structural reform of the opposites.