Mainichi Shimbun

[Akira]

Sensing Rare Opportunity, DPJ and SDP Merge to Form Democratic Party

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TOKYO - In a seemingly strategic move to benefit from the loss of trust in the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Social Democratic Party have announced an immediate merger into the Democratic Party, creating a new political force that in the most recent polls would steal the LDP's majority in the National Diet. The merger was announced in a joint press conference by the former leader of the DPJ Asanuma Kanna and the former leader of the SDP Tamura Kei. Miss Asanuma will take the role as leader of the Democratic Party and leader in the House of Representatives, while mister Tamura will be her deputy in the Democratic Party and leader in the House of Councillors.

The merger creates the largest centre progressive party in modern Japanese history and the first single-party threat to the post-War dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party. If elections were held to day it would secure 308 out of 480 seats in the House of Representatives and 130 out of 242 seats in the House of Councillors, allowing the Democratic Party to govern without a coalition partner. While this would not be the first time since 1950 that the LDP was removed from power, previous attempts required large multi-party coalitions that always proved unstable and failed to act on the momentum. While elections for the House of Representatives are not planned until 2009, the House of Councillors elections will be held in July.

The loss of confidence in the LDP started with the scandal in which the records of 50 million citizens who had paid pension premiums were lost during the digitalization efforts of the Social Insurance Agency in the late 1990's. Loss of confidence over the scandal itself, which also occurred under LDP administration, and the current inability of Prime Minister Shinzo and his Cabinet to deal with the fallout have eroded confidence to historic lows. Recent investigations of ties between senior LDP officials and the Yakuza have further resulted in a significant loss of support

Miss Asanuma has positioned the Democratic Party as the defender of the common person's interests and announced plans to replace the Social Insurance Agency with a new Pension Service, to expand social security benefits in general, revitalize the economy that has been lagging behind global developments for the past two decades, and seek out closer trade and other ties with neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region to attract foreign investments. She also intends to establish a new Ministry that will work on efforts to reverse the demographic decline and boost the birth rate.

Responses from the parties other than the LDP and the new Democratic Party to the news have been mixed, with many excited at the opportunity of the LDP losing power but simultaneously worried that the 1.5 Party system will now be replaced with a de-facto two-party system.

 

[Akira]

Democratic Party Exceeds Expectations in Unprecedented House of Councillors Landslide

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TOKYO - Exceeding all expectations for the recently merged Democratic Party, the DP has managed to secure a single-party majority in the House of Councillors, securing 140 out of 242 seats. The LDP-Komeito governing coalition has been reduced to 75 seats, 60 for the Liberal Democratic Party and 15 for Komeito. Of the remaining 27 seats, the Japanese Communist Party owns 12, the People's New Party 8, and New Party Nippon 7. Apart from the Democratic Party, all incumbent parties have lost seats while the People's New Party and New Party Nippon did not exist in the previous election and performed worse than had been expected prior to the merger.

Analysts credit Leader Asanuma's revolutionary campaign strategy of utilizing new platforms such as social media, and a campaign focused around appealing to Japan's young adult population which generally avoids voting, with defying even the most optimistic expectations. The party's platform that directly addresses many of the concerns of the people of Japan has also contributed significantly to the party's success.

Deputy Leader Tamamura will continue leading the Democratic Party in the House of Councillors. While the government still had a majority in the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party can block any law passed in the Lower House and thus force the government to obtain approval of the Democratic Party for any legislative effort. Anonymous sources inside the LDP have even indicated that the record loss may lead to the resignation of Prime Minister Shinzo, as well as general elections being called two years early.

In her victory speech, miss Asanuma pledged that the Democratic Party would act as a party for and by the Japanese people and work tirelessly to clean the country of decades of stagnation and inefficient governance by the LDP.

 

[Akira]

Institute for the Preservation of Democracy Issues Warning on Hardened Political Discourse

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TOKYO - Following increasing hostility in both online and offline political discourse, the Institute for the Preservation of Democracy (a nonpartisan think tank) has in its annual report cautioned politicians against maintaining extreme positions and recommended the Cabinet to increase security for Diet members.

While in the half a century since the establishment of the current political system Japanese politics have been defined by stability and cordial interactions between the Parties, the first cracks already started appearing last year simultaneously with the Pension crisis. However, according to the analysis of the IftPoD, the hardest escalation occurred following the creation of the Democratic Party and its legislative success. Frustrated with the hardline positions maintained by the Democratic Party in its negotiations with the Cabinet on providing legislative support in the House of Councillors, many hardline supporters of the governing LDP have begun accusing the opposition leader of seeking to destroy Japan. Even going as far as accusing the party of being a Thai supported fifth column to break down the Japanese state and open the door for communism.

Though such discourse is worrying by itself, the IftPoD has also seen similar statements actively supported and even echoed by members of the LDP in the National Diet. As a result of the accusations and death threats sent to her, the TMPD has recently increased the security assigned to Democratic Party leadership as they believe there are now credible threats against them.

The Institute has warned that if left unchecked Japan may be heading for a similar age of chaos as was seen in the 1920's and 1930's where increasing political extremism and violence resulted in numerous political murders and eventually the complete breakdown of the democratic system and replacement by military rule.

In its conclusion, the report recommends the Cabinet to increase security measures for members of the National Diet, and for both Cabinet members and leaders of the major parties to jointly call for a return to civil political discourse.

When asked about the report and its findings, Miss Asanuma told us she shares its concerns and that she has personally taken efforts to guarantee her supporters do not resort to violence. We have also reached out to the Cabinet and the Liberal Democratic Party, however both declined to comment at this time as they were still studying the report.