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A healthy administration of the Diet requires opposition parties that challenge the governing party.

Members of all levels of government in Japan from local governments to the National Diet are elected through democratic elections.

Currently, the Liberal Democratic Party(hereinafter called LDP) of Japan has been the governing party for a long time.
However, it is not a single-party government, but a coalition government with New Komeito Party.
Some anti-LDP supporters complain that every time the LDP becomes the governing party through elections, it is not true democracy, but effectively a dictatorship.
I would like them to show us the democratic method they propose for electing members of the Diet.

Allow us to reiterate that these results are achieved through democratic elections.
Also, numerous opposition party members have also been elected.

In fact, in 2009,  the Democratic Party of Japan (hereinafter called DPJ)  became the governing party, and the Liberal Democratic Party became the opposition.
Many people voted for the DPJ members because they believed in the party’s dream manifesto and were dissatisfied with the Aso administration (LDP) at the time.
Even now, some people still say that the role of the opposing party is “not to propose alternatives, but to oppose”.
The DPJ always opposed every LDP proposal and had not built up the experience necessary to govern.Additionally, when their manifesto based on fictitious hidden treasure turned out to be worthless paper, they lost the next House of Representatives election to the LDP by a landslide.
Even now, some people call this DPJ administration era the “nightmare DPJ administration.”
And this experience makes it so that even if there is dissatisfaction with the LDP that has become a long-term governing party, the election issue becomes a comparison with an opposition party that cannot be trusted to govern.
As of 2021, the leading opposition party is the Constitutional Democratic Party(hereinafter called CDP) of Japan. As some people might guess from its name, it is the party belonging to many former DPJ members.

In today’s developed networked society, for better or worse, we can get a lot of information.
I often see opinions criticizing the CDP of Japan as the main opposition party for only criticizing and not offering alternatives. Actually, the CDP also submits legislation, but we think the image is created because some of the party’s members only criticize the governing party on Twitter.

In our personal opinion, we don’t believe the reason opposition parties aren’t gaining votes is only this image.

When considering national policies, it is crucial to focus on national defense, security, and the economy.Japan is surrounded by nuclear powers. China continues to provoke Japan over the Senkaku Islands. South Korea illegally occupies Takeshima and engages in anti-Japanese actions. Russia invaded Ukraine. Despite facing these dangers situations, if political parties avoid deep discussions on national defense and security, can they really be trusted to govern the nation ?
In fact, a major focus has become the debate over constitutional revision and the role of Self-Defense Forces(hereinafter called SDF).

Here we outline the positions of each political party and neighboring countries regarding the debate over constitutional revision and the role of SDF:

This reveals a very interesting configuration of positions.
Among Japan’s neighboring countries, there are nations occupying Japanese territory and others frequently intruding into Japanese territorial waters to provoke.
It feels uncomfortable that a Japanese political party holds the same position on national defense and security as these neighboring countries.

Opposing political parties and people in neighboring countries claim that discussing national defense and security to protect the lives of Japanese citizens is an extreme right-wing idea.
In addition, some people even claim that since Japan has military bases, it causes Japan to be attacked, and that creating the cause for attack is the fault of Japan.
In other words, they are condoning neighboring countries with their own military forces and bases attacking Japan.

Recent news reports indicate that supporters of constitutional revision now exceed opponents.
In addition, the breakdown shows that younger generations are more likely to support it.

Considering this, could we say the results of the House of Representatives and House of Councillors elections were inevitable ?
And we need to understand that today’s younger generation takes national defense and security more seriously than the older generation. Some defeated opposition parties stated they could not effectively communicate their policies and way of thinking to the citizens. However, we feel these results came from the public having a solid understanding.

However, there are both advantages and disadvantages to one party remaining the governing party.
We eagerly await the emergence of an opposition party that positions national defense, security, and the economy not as right-wing or left-wing issues, but as central ones, and can engage in serious policy debate.
It is only natural that each party has differences in policies and other areas.
However, if a party refuses to discuss constitutional revision and the Self-Defense Forces which are the most critical issues related to national defense and security, it cannot be considered a party capable of national policies.

Rather than a single party holding government power for a long period, forming a coalition government with other parties enables monitoring of the governing party.
However, the most crucial factor is the emergence of a strong opposition party capable of of national policies.
The possibility of a change in the governing party itself creates a powerful monitoring function for the governing party.
Even if the governing party remains unchanged, the existence of such an opposition party provides a strong monitoring function against the governing party.

Thanks.
2022/08/15