Traditional parties should learn to respond to the needs of people
(From The Japan Times April 13 issue)

既成政党は国民の要望に応えよ

The Democratic Party of Japan was routed in the first round of unified local elections April 10. The DPJ failed to win governorships in Tokyo, Mie and Hokkaido. In elections for 41 prefectural assemblies, the DPJ's strength was slashed from a pre-election level of 415 seats to 346 — about one-third the number of seats that the Liberal Democratic Party won.

The April 10 election results should be taken as a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Naoto Kan, indicating people's concerns about his ability to mobilize Japan's resources to help people affected by the March 11 quake and tsunami, reconstruct the disaster-struck areas and overcome the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. He may have to consider resigning in the near future.

Although the DPJ was battered, other parties should refrain from harboring a false sense of security. The LDP's strength in the 41 assemblies was diminished from 1,247 seats to 1,119, the Japan Communist Party from 94 to 80 and the Social Democratic Party from 50 to 30.

Komeito increased its strength from 167 to 171 seats. But a Komeito incumbent failed to win re-election in Osaka, the party's stronghold. Your Party ran 103 candidates but only won 41 seats, though it made significant gains from its pre-election strength of 11 seats. The election results show that the traditional parties need to improve their ability to understand and respond to the needs of the people.

By taking advantage of voters' dissatisfaction with the traditional parties' performances, local parties created by local government heads made gains. A party led by Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto won 57 seats to achieve a majority in the 109-member Osaka Prefectural Assembly and became the No. 1 party in the 86-member Osaka city assembly after winning 33 seats. These local parties threaten to turn assemblies into a rubber stamp for local government heads. The traditional parties must hone their policymaking abilities to counter the local parties' populist appeal.

統一地方選の前半戦で民主党の不振が目立った。東京･三重･北海道の3知事選で全敗、41都道府県議選でも獲得議席は改選前より69議席下回る346と、自民党の3分の1程度にとどまった。

この結果は、菅首相の東日本大震災後の対応に突きつけられた国民の不信任投票とみなすべきだ。民主党は大敗したが、他党も安心は禁物だ。今回の選挙結果は、国民の要求に応える力が既成政党に不足していることを示した。

既成政党が苦戦する一方、首長政党が躍進、橋本・大阪府知事の新党は府議選で過半数を獲得し、市議会で第1党となった。既成政党は地元の政党のポピュリズムに対抗するため、政策決定能力を磨くべきだ。