Election for Survival

The ailing biggest opposite party, Democratic Party, announced the election for next party leader on Monday. Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seiji Maehara, and former Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yukio Edano, filed for the candidates. They do not make clear difference in terms of policy. The biggest difference is how to stand against unilateral advance of Shinzo Abe administration.

With bitter defeat in the election of House of Representatives three years ago, DP has only 20% of share in the House, while leading Liberal Democratic Party occupies 60%. DP reduced its seat in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly last month, suffering from sweeping advance of a regional party led by Tokyo Governor, Yuriko Koike. The biggest issue of DP’s presidential election is survival of the party.

As one of the leaders of conservative lawmakers in DP, Maehara hopes to seek a kind of partnership with Japan First, a political organization established by the colleagues of Koike last month. Based on the difference in policy, he rejects cooperation with Japan Communist Party in the election. “I want to build an alternative choice to LDP,” told Maehara in the press conference on Monday. “We have a historical mission to offer the people an alternative choice.”

Edano does not deny cooperation with JCP. He explores self-rebuilding of the party by offering policy choice against Abe administration. Criticizing unilateral procedure of Abe, he opposes reinterpretation of Constitution of Japan to allow exercising the right of collective self-defense or other policies. “Our standpoint is different from them who have approved new security legislation, Abenomics, Designated Secret Protection Law or conspiracy crime,” told Edano with negative stance against Japan First.

Frustrated with weak leadership of the party, some lawmakers left DP before or after the election of Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Maehara tries to include those deserters in the reorganization of the opposite parties. Edano insists on rebuilding the party with basic policy such as maintaining Article 9 of the Constitution, stable social security or getting rid of nuclear power generation. He opposes consumption tax hike, from 8% to 10 % in October 2019, while Maehara approves it.

The voting day is September 1^st. Each member of House of Representatives or Councillors has two points in the election. Registered candidates for national election, local assembly members, party members or supporters are also eligible. It is speculated that Maehara leads in the votes of lawmakers, while Edano enjoys broad support from party members all over Japan. But, the greatest contender against those two candidates is an impression that neither of them can make any difference.