LDP's old guard won't fade away

老政治家は死なず

Mr. Koizumi is committed to rejuvenating the party through a generational change. And he wants to apply the age limit without exception. His leadership will be called into question, indeed, if Mr. Nakasone sticks to his guns. Mr. Nakasone has suggested he might run from a single-seat district if the party leadership does not allow him to run as a top-rated PR candidate.

Mr. Nakasone and Mr. Miyazawa are living witnesses to politics in the post-World War II period. Moreover, both have a solid track record as prime minister. So the LDP has much to gain from their historical insight and keen judgment. But it is true that the LDP needs more input from younger politicians.

Of course, age is not always a limiting factor. Not a few elderly legislators remain mentally alert and physically active. It is arguable, therefore, whether an age limit should be applied across the board. "Many people live to be 80 these days. So we need legislators in their 80s as representatives of that generation," says former economy and industry minister Mr. Takeo Hiranuma.

Mr. Nakasone says he is entitled to an exception — for a different reason. In 1996, when a Lower House election was held for the first time under the single-seat/PR system, LDP executives promised to put him at the top of the party's PR ticket for as long as he wanted. In return for that privilege, he decided not to run from his single-seat constituency. Mr. Nakasone says he has yet to achieve a long-cherished goal: rewriting the Constitution and the Education Basic Law.

But as a doyen of the LDP, Mr. Nakasone can set an example by following party rules. Relinquishing a Diet seat does not necessarily mean an end to political activity. Ultimately, of course, a decision on whether a Diet member can retain his or her seat rests with voters.

Meanwhile, the growing presence of second- and third-generation legislators — mostly sons and daughters who have inherited electoral constituencies from their retired fathers — could hurt the sound growth of Japanese politics. This is not to say that hereditary Diet membership is necessarily bad. Younger legislators who have grown up watching politics close up are usually committed to public service and acquainted with policy affairs.

The downside is that "family ties" in politics encourage cronyism and stasis, limiting opportunities for "uninitiated" candidates without traditional connections in their districts. Political dynamism will suffer if hereditary candidates take many of the 300 seats at stake in the single-member constituencies.

Ideally, a national election should be open to candidates from all walks of life. In fact, political novices are increasingly testing the water. But it is the voters who decide whether candidates are fit to serve the nation. Hereditary candidates are no exception.

The Japan Times Weekly
Nov. 1, 2003
(C) All rights reserved

      首相は世代交代により自民党の若返りを図るため、定年制は例外なく実施する意向である。中曽根氏があくまでも要請を拒否すれば、首相の指導力が問われる。

      自民党は戦後政治の生き証人である中曽根・宮沢両氏に学ぶところも多いだろうが、若手の意見も尊重せねばならない。

      もちろん、高齢でも健康で活発に活動している政治家は少なくない。定年制を例外なしに実施するのは問題なしとは言えない。

      中曽根氏は、1996年に小選挙区・比例代表並立制の衆院選挙が初めて行われたときに、自民党執行部が氏に対し比例代表終身1位を約束したと主張し、定年制の例外扱いを求めた。氏は今も憲法改正と教育基本法改正を目標にしている。

      しかし中曽根氏は自民党議員の長老として、党の規則を守り模範を示すべきだ。議席を失っても、必ずしも政治活動をやめることにはならない。政治家が議席を維持できるか否かは有権者が決めることだ。

      一方、2世、3世議員が増えることは政治の健全な発展を妨げる可能性がある。議席の世襲が絶対悪いというのではないが、縁故のない新人の政界進出を阻む。世襲候補が小選挙区の300議席の多くを獲得するようなことになれば政治的活力がそがれる。

      理想的には、あらゆる階層からの候補者が国政選挙に出るべきである。実際、新人候補者も多くなっている。世襲候補者も含め、候補者が議員としてふさわしいかどうかは有権者が決定権を持っている。