Top Opposition Party Struggles for New Leadership

The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) will hold presidential election on September 23. As incumbent head of the party, Kenta Izumi, hopes to be reelected for his second term, former heads are gathering support from its lawmakers, indicating frustration against political handlings of Izumi. It will be a contest for presenting an alternative to current administration led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which will have presidential election four days after CDP. 

Elected for the head after a defeat in general election of the House of Representatives three years ago, Izumi has been leading CDP trying to change the party from the one always opposing to everything the leading party does to a new opposition party that makes constructive proposals.

 

The result was changing almost nothing. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did not much applied CDP’s arguments to his policies. In the important policies such as increasing defense budget or managing declining birth rate, CDP did not make efficient proposal, allowing Kishida taking a free hand. The CDP could not earn apparent increase of supporting rate in the polls, even when the LDP was in trouble with the slush fund scandal. CDP suffered from some other opposition parties’ surge, allowing Japan Innovation Party overtaking the CDP in polls.

 

The predecessor of Izumi, Yukio Edano, held a press conference on August 21 to declare his candidacy to the presidential election, before Izumi announces his ticket for reelection. “The people want a new political choice. I will aim a new national party alternative to the LDP,” stressed Edano.

 

In his policy package for the head of party, Edano upheld economic policy focused on the people, called “human economics,” which included raising the minimum wage or legislation of same sex marriage. While not referring to reducing consumption tax, he aimed at a society not depending on nuclear power generation, even not mentioning the policy of no nuclear power plant which is in the party platform.

 

Following Edano, former Prime Minister in the administration of Democratic Party of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, is preparing for running in the presidential election. Although Noda has been hesitating to announce his hope to candidacy, several party members, including Ichiro Ozawa, urged him to stand up. Criticizing the LDP soaked in illegal political fund, Noda insisted on the necessity of the opposition party to improve politics of Japan.

 

If the race becomes a match between Edano and Noda, it will be the race between old politicians in their age of sixties. Izumi, 50, can be a candidate who may attract the voters in young generation. However, Izumi is still struggling to collect twenty lawmakers to run for the presidential election. The CDP is still on its way to be an alternative to the long hegemony of the LDP in Japanese politics.

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