Japan Echo Web

Japan New Party Marked the Turning Point

A deformed unipartisan system

Matsubara: The DPJ that currently holds power is ultimately a party that gained strength from merging with Ozawa’s Liberal Party. It’s the same as the New Frontier Party in the sense that it’s a mishmash of people and lacks unity. So why then doesn’t it split, as did the New Frontier Party?

Mikuriya: Everyone probably learned the lesson when the New Frontier Party broke up — you get nothing if you break up a party. And they are currently in power, too. They won’t want to give up the power they finally acquired.

Matsubara: So would that make the DPJ a “Wiser New Frontier Party?”

Mikuriya: I would say so. But that’s not a result of an evolution in democracy; it only means that the DPJ had become a party like the LDP, that can’t do anything unless it’s in power. That’s why the current situation is not truly bipartisan. After every election, one of two identical parties just wins more votes than the other; nothing changes even when the regime changes. In the least, it’s not textbook bipartisan but more “deformed unipartisan.”

Matsubara: There are really no differences in their policies. Plus, neither the DPJ nor LDP today can handle behind-the-scenes politics, so you have two identical parties taking up most seats but matters don’t move forward. True, they each rule a house, but it should only take some creative ideas to pass bills in such a state.

Mikuriya: Divided rule isn’t all that rare in parliaments around the world, but they still get things done. The Japanese parliament gives up before it even thinks about how it could get things done. The ruling party is under the notion that it can pass policies only when it holds the majority of both houses.

Matsubara: So we’ve looked back at the last 20 years and realized that it was the “20 years of Ozawa.” No matter what we talk about, it comes down to Ozawa. And what’s amazing is that Ozawa doesn’t have fixed political ideals. [Grins] I personally believe that politicians need to be carnivorous, but there is no one who has the nerves of, and could take the place of, Ozawa.

Mikuriya: I’m hoping there is someone somewhere, but they’ve all been blunted. I’m feeling that the media demands too much common sense from politicians.

Matsubara: Politicians need to have a certain level of uncommon sense. There need to be people who say outrageous things to breathe some life into politics.

Mikuriya: Ozawa during his LDP days used to voice his outrageous plan of filling 200 seats solely with Takeshita faction members, which sparked antipathy within and outside the party. Will we see anybody like that in times to come? The media should stop nitpicking every comment they hear and reporting, “Isn’t this controversial?” A government full of honor students won’t give Japan the power to push forward from its current recession.

Translated from “Nihon-shinto ga taaningu pointo datta,” asahi journal 2011, pp. 56–62. (Courtesy of Asahi Shimbu Company)

No part may not be reproduced without the written consent of Asahi Shimbun.