Uselessness of Party

Voters cast ballots for the second round of integrated local election on Sunday. While there were various agenda in economy, security reform or relation with neighbor nations, the results did not directly reflect approvals or denials to Shinzo Abe administration. Whether Abenomics was right or wrong, they did not have an alternative party, causing low rate in turnout. Parties are deteriorating Japanese democracy.

According to the data of Nikkei Newspaper, the party that obtained the biggest number in the elections for city assemblies except independents was Komeito, the coalition partner of LDP. Japan Communist Party and LDP followed it and Democratic Party of Japan lagged behind those three parties. Among huge number of independents, there must be candidates close to existing parties like LDP. However, the phenomenon showed a tendency of candidates avoiding negative response from voters on specific ideology or policy national parties upheld.

Among 295 city assemblies reaching to the end of members’ term, 3.58% of all the seats were determined without election, because running candidates did not exceed the quorum. 27 mayors out of 89 cities were also elected without voting. Being frustrated with daily news about political deterioration, however, politics for Japanese people is something to be done by someone. Not only disappointed to current politics, they think politics cannot be changed by election.

A few exceptions can be seen in mayoral elections in Tokyo. In Setagaya, incumbent mayor Nobuto Hosaka, former lawmaker with Social Democratic Party, turned down the challenge of a candidate supported by LDP and Komeito. Hosaka firmly appealed necessity of eliminating nuclear power plants. In Shibuya, Ken Hasebe with support of incumbent mayor defeated two candidates, one of which was supported by LDP and Komeito and another was by DPJ, Innovation and SDP. All major parties were lost to Hasebe, who declared to succeed gay marriage policy of the incumbent.

Those elections in Tokyo showed a candidate with unique policy could overcome political influence of parties. In other words, national parties cannot salvage small voices in local community. That separation between Tokyo and the local is harmful for democracy. Although political parties have to reflect local voices to national policies, what they are actually doing is backing up bureaucrats in Tokyo coercing their policies to local people, typically shown in Okinawa or Fukushima. Expectation to party is shrinking year by year.