President of Democratic Party, Renho,
announced her stepping down on Thursday. While she once expressed her
willingness to rebuild the party after miserable defeat in the election of
Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly earlier this month, she failed in organizing new
executive board. The party is still in a vicious circle of leaders shopping in
frustration of ailing leadership.
She took the seat last September, after the
resignation of former President, Katsuya Okada, with a defeat in the election
of House of Councillors. She became the first President of a major party in
Japan with mixed ethic heritage, the Japanese and Taiwanese. The main reason of
choosing Renho as the leader was based on expectation to her ability of
clear-cut criticism against the leading party and positive image for young and
female leader.
In the campaign of Tokyo Metropolitan
Assembly election, Renho stumbled on explanation of her mixed ethnicity. Some
DP members attributed the defeat to inappropriate handling of the problem by
Renho, while it had been inevitable for the party under any leadership to
retreat suffering from powerful advance of Tokyoites First led by Governor
Yuriko Koike.
The greatest disappointment for Renho was
resignation of Secretary General and her political mentor, Yoshihiko Noda. Receiving
accusation of party leadership in the election, Noda had to step down to show his
responsibility. Although Renho showed her willingness to replace Noda, she
could not find any person for new Secretary General. All the person who
received her offer for the position refused it.
Renho turned down her intention to stay. “I
have yielded centrifugal force in the party. Having thought about how to make
it centripetal force, retreat was my answer,” told Renho in her press
conference. But, there has been no centrifugal force in the party after it was
dropped from the administrative position in Japanese politics. Every time the party
failed in elections, party members criticized the leaders. Some left the party
frustrated with weak leadership, refusing any effort to rebuild the party.
DP is focusing on the election for next
President. Former Secretary General, Yukio Edano, expressed his intention to
run for it. “The role of next leader is to resist current tendency of
emphasizing self-responsibility and fanning free competition,” told Edano.
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seiji Maehara, is also considering being a
candidate. But, as long as most party members attribute the hardship of DP to
false leadership, the party cannot be able to get rid of it. Confusion in the biggest
opposite party is nothing but a helping hand for also ailing Shinzo Abe administration.
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