Restart of Democratic Party

Democratic Party elected former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seiji Maehara, for next President on Friday. He won a sweeping victory against his contender, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, in the presidential election of the party. While DP has been suffering from losing power as the biggest opposite party against Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it can be the last chance for rebuilding the party with accepting frustration against conservative-oriented politics by Abe.

Eligible voters of the election consisted of lawmakers, candidates for national election, general party members and supporters and local assembly members. Each lawmaker had two points, while candidate of national election had one. Whole votes of other voters were proportionally distributed to the candidates of presidential election converted to points. The election this time was struggle over 858 points.

In the voting of lawmakers in Houses of Representatives and Councillors, Maehara won 83 votes, while Edano got 51. Most party members realized that Edano had made better campaign than expected. But, Maehara won every part of the eligible voters. As the result of presidential election, Maehara collected 502 points, while Edano got 332.

The main reason of Maehara’s victory was that he looked like more focusing on integration of the party than Edano did. There had been some lawmakers who left the party under the leadership of former President Katsuya Okada or Renho, frustrated with cooperation with Japan Communist Party in past elections. Those deserters, mainly keeping conservative principle in heart, argued that JCP would fundamentally harm the party. Maehara proposed reviewing the relationship with JCP.

Edano argued that DP needed to get every possible support available from other parties including JCP to rebuild the party. But, most voters in the presidential election supposed that the relationship with JCP would cause further departures of lawmakers from DP. While Maehara hoped to seek cooperation with Japan First, recently established by the supporters of popular governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, there is no positive sign from the side of Japan First.

Newspapers requested Maehara in their editorials to focus not on cooperation with other parties but on rebuilding the party. It is obvious that DP cannot afford to stay in a quagmire of internal disputes. Even how he was different from Edano in some policies such as consumption tax or necessity of constitutional amendment, Maehara has to use Edano and his supporters in some posts of the party. It is important to get rid of naïve tradition to make endless quarrels.