Leader with Chinese-like Name

Democratic Party elected Renho, a female lawmaker and current Deputy President of the party, for new President on Thursday. Leaving other candidates far behind in the voting, Renho achieved a sweeping victory, making her political basis in the party concrete. It still is a question, however, whether she is viable for the leader of top opposing party, who can be next Prime Minister of Japan.

The result of election was landsliding. Not only occupying 54% of lawmakers’ votes, Renho achieved 72% of popular votes of ordinary party affiliates or supporters in all over the country. Those voters hoped her to represent an image of restart of the party with her fresh image stemming from her relative youngness and sexuality. One of the other candidates, Seiji Maehara, was too experienced to renew the party and the other, Yu-ichiro Tamaki, was relatively a novice.

Renho is supposed to pick Yoshihiko Noda, former Prime Minister of Japan and the leader of a fraction Renho affiliates with, for Secretary General of the party. With stable credibility in the party, which reiterates internal conflicts over fundamental policies or framework of coalition with other parties. She also has moderate relationship with former President, Katsuya Okada, who leads another major fraction in the party.

People are watching how Renho is going to make discussion against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Diet. “I’m preparing for discussion in the Diet over coming supplemental budget bill, showing alternatives to the spendings of the government with detailed inspection,” told Renho in her press conference after the election. On constitutional amendment, which was one of the main issues for the election, Renho revealed her plan to settle researching committee in the party. It is supposed that she will succeed the framework of coalition with Japan Communist Party made under the leadership of Okada.

One thing that may disqualify her as next Prime Minister would be her nationality. Her name includes an unusual letter for name of the Japanese and can be pronounced Lianfang in Chinese language. While she had been denying it, it was found that she possessed her father’s nationality of Taiwan for a long time. As prohibited having dual nationalities, she had to remove one of those two, which she did not. Although Renho made public apology and promised her effort to get rid of Taiwanese nationality, she will be a soft target of the conservatives in Liberal Democratic Party, anyway.

Another weak point is gaffe. While she sells herself with sharp and clear conversational ability as a former newscaster, Renho often becomes a prey of her own trap of saying too much. Not only calling Okada “boring guy,” she invited disappointment of Japanese scientists with saying “Why does it have to be the number one of the world?” It is up to the public whether her character will be accepted as fresh young leader.