Ferment within the SDP
(From The Japan Times July 30 issue)

辻元議員離党で社民党内に混乱

Ms. Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a Social Democratic Party stalwart and a star politician as much as party chief Mizuho Fukushima is, announced her departure from the party July 27. This could seriously damage the SDP unless it makes strenuous efforts to pursue idealism based on political realism — a difficult endeavor.

Her exit symbolizes the conflict within the SDP between idealism and realism, the former represented by Ms. Fukushima and the latter by Ms. Tsujimoto.

Ms. Fukushima's idealism was clearly shown when she, then consumer affairs minister of the Hatoyama administration, opposed Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's eventual decision to accept the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord to move the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa Island, to Henoko in the northern part of the island, despite his earlier call for moving Futenma's functions outside Okinawa Prefecture. Mr. Hatoyama fired Ms. Fukushima and the SDP left the ruling coalition.

Ms. Fukushima's stance helped the SDP garner the largest vote (22.6 percent) among parties in proportional representation in Okinawa Prefecture in the July 11 Upper House election. But nationwide, the SDP's vote in proportional representation declined from 4.47 percent in 2007 to 3.84 percent this time. Only Ms. Fukushima and another SDP candidate were elected.

Ms. Tsujimoto served as senior vice minister under Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Seiji Maehara in the Hatoyama administration, and built a good working relationship with him. At her news conference, she said that merely criticizing the government cannot effect change in Japan and that voters had told her that the SDP should be part of the ruling coalition to reflect the various voices of citizens.

The SDP must take a cue from what she said. With tenacity, party leaders as well as rank-and-file members must strive to get people to understand what kind of society they want to build under social democracy and, with a clear vision, prepare convincing policy measures to push Japanese society closer to their goal. Otherwise, the party could end up becoming a fringe organization.

社民党の辻元議員が離党を表明、同党が政治的現実に基づいて理想を追及しなければ打撃は大きい。離党は、福島党首に代表される理想主義と辻元議員に代表される現実主義の対立を象徴する。

鳩山政権時代、福島党首は消費者相だったが、首相が普天間基地を辺野古に移設する日米合意を受け入れたことに反発して解任され、社民党は連立政権を離脱した。

国交省副大臣を務めた辻元議員は、政府を批判するだけでは日本を変えられない、社民党は連立与党の一部として国民の声を反映させてほしいと有権者から要望があったと語った。

社民党は彼女の声にヒントを得るべきだ。党全体が、社会民主主義のもとどんな社会を作っていくかについて粘り強く国民の理解を求め、明確な展望のもと、説得力ある政策を立てなければ党は弱小組織に終わってしまう。