Four Run for Head Election

The leader’s election of the Constitutional Democratic Party, the leading opposition, was officially announced on September 7. Four lawmakers, from former prime minister to freshwoman, were registered as the candidates. While they made different argument on some issues such as nuclear power generation or consumption tax, they embraced a common goal of dragging ruling Liberal Democratic Party down. It will be voted on September 23.

The candidates are former prime minister with Democratic Party of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, former Chief Cabinet Secretary in Naoto Kan administration and former head of CDP, Yukio Edano, incumbent head of CDP, Kenta Izumi, and a freshwoman of House of Representatives, Harumi Yoshida. Izumi and Yoshida have been supposed to be on the edge of retreat, due to the requirement of twenty endorsements from party lawmakers, they could manage to secure them just before the deadline.

 

After registration as candidates they held a joint press conference in Tokyo. One of the most concerned issues in the party is cooperation with other opposition parties. No candidate had clear vision about the administration by the opposite parties. Noda insisted that inter-party electoral cooperation should be made in as many districts as possible.

 

With reflection of defeat in the previous Lower House election when he upheld partial coalition with Japan Communist Party, Edano emphasized necessity for collecting public support for the CDP by themselves. Although he tried to build cooperative relationship with other opposition parties, Izumi has not been successful in formulating it as the head of CDP. Izumi upheld partial coalition called “mission-type cabinet,” which detail is not well explained. Yoshida hoped coalition for the policy of no payment for education.

 

On nuclear power, Izumi effectively approved resumption of reactors in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company. Edano and Yoshida unequivocally said that they will aim at a society without nuclear power plant. Noda was between those two standpoints, referring to the balance of ideal and reality we face.

 

On consumption tax, Yoshida and Izumi approved tax reduction. As former cabinet ministers, Noda and Edano were negative in introducing consumption tax reduction, because they could not find alternative fiscal resource to consumption tax. They appealed introduction of allowance for low-income families, as an alternative to tax reduction.

 

It will be the election in the time the LDP is suffering from unpopularity for its slush fund scandal. Although the next leader of the CDP is required to have a strategy for criticizing LDP’s obscure management of political funds, the candidates for the head do not have specific idea for regulating wrong management of the funds.

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