News Analysis: Japan's new opposition leader eyes party rebuilding, countering "Abenomics"

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Sunday threw its support behind deputy president Katsuya Okada, who is becoming its new leader in a party presidential election.

Sunday marks the second time Okada, 61, has stepped into the party's top seat, having previously served as the party's chief from 2004 to 2005.

Following a hard-fought victory over former party secretary- general Goshi Hosono in the runoff, Okada managed to win the post, securing 133 points in votes cast by the party lawmakers and members endorsed for national elections, compared to Hosono's 120 points.

Okada as the new DPJ president, will now be charged with the hefty responsibility of mending a deeply fragmented party and becoming a bone fide political entity strong enough to challenge the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's unilateral and right-leaning attributes in parliament.

Okada's rise to power in the DPJ comes at a dismal time for the opposition camp, which took a battering in the last month's snap- election as the DPJ failed to stop the LDP winning more than a two- thirds majority, which has led to the ruling coalition now holding sway over both the more powerful lower house and the upper house of Japan's bicameral system of parliament.

Observers and party members alike conceded that the party had been in such a shambles; suffering from increasing infighting, factionalism and ill-discipline, in the months ahead of the December general election that Abe extending his grip on political power in parliament was a given, as the supposedly main opposition party failed to field enough candidates to even theoretically win a two-thirds majority.

Thus, it came as no real surprise that the DPJ's former president Banri Kaieda was forced to step down from his post after losing his seat in the Dec. 14 lower house general election.

"The (DPJ) has been in dire straits, there's no secret about that and while the public's hopes for the party were high when they ousted the liberals after a 50-year unbroken rule in 2009, such faith has declined consistently since then, amid policy gaffes and financial scandals and as a succession of three prime ministers in as many years have swung in and out of the then revolving door for Japanese politics," Dr. David McLellan, a professor emeritus of postgraduate Asian Studies in Tokyo, told Xinhua after Sunday's election result.

"But the early day's of the party's leadership and its ' potential' have not been forgotten by the public, and, if it sticks to its original campaign and policy platforms, such as the unpopular consumption tax hike postponement, support for smaller businesses and low income families, the party could see its followers swell," McLellan said.

He went on to say that while the situation was possibly too embryonic at the moment, the possibility exists for the DPJ to bring about the long-talked about realignment of the opposition camp, to create a veritable political opponent that has the teeth to cut down some of the ruling coalition's self-serving policy aims that don't necessarily reflect the needs and wishes of the electorate they're purporting to serve.

"I want to drastically rebuild the party and to transform it into one that can face the Liberal Democratic Party, and take a firm grip on Japanese politics," Okada said during a recent news conference in Tokyo.

"This could be the last chance for the DPJ to regain power," he said, adding that the party needs to become more united and use a firm hand in politics. He added that inner and cross-party discussions would be of tantamount importance going forward, but once a policy decision is made, all members must stick to it. Otherwise, he said, "the DPJ can not regain the public's trust."

Okada also stated that while a possible alliance with parties such as the Japan Innovation Party (Ishin no To), the second- largest opposition force in government, existed, the moves would be difficult, owing to policy differences.

But the new leader alluded to such alignments not being impossible, and Hosono, according to sources close to the matter, is keen to embark on such merger talks, under and on behalf of his new leader.

Political pundits are leaning towards Okada being the best person available to pull the DPJ out of its political doldrums and see the party restored to at least some of its former glory.

"There's a lot to be done in a relatively short space of time, but by making their policy platforms clear, while showing a united party front - with issues of infighting and factionalism left firmly in the party's past - the DPJ could make up some ground on a runaway LDP party, and this is what the nation needs," McLellan said.

"The party needs to follow through with its directive that is firmly opposed to 'Abenomics', which it believes is only benefiting big businesses and the limited benefits of which are being unevenly spread across the nation and its myriad demographics including age, gender and income brackets," he added.

McLellan also said that the Okada-backed initiative of flexible monetary policy, would be a better way for the government to simultaneously address the economic situations facing it, as well as target specific elements within society to better support them, as Abe's three-arrows of his "Abenomics" blend of economic policy mixes, spanning fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms, have yet to hit their targets.

As well as increasing focus on education and employment, the Okada-led DPJ will, according to its statement, be looking to, " rebuild a sizable, affluent group of middle-income earners to counter the prime minister's Abenomics package of economic policies."

The effects of "Abenomics" while being somewhat muted thus far, will not have an even benefit across the nation, with the major advantageous primarily being enjoyed by big businesses, Okada said at a recent press conference.

He said that the richer echelons of society should be taxed more and those on the opposite side of the wealth divide, especially families with young children, should be provided with financial safeguards, including subsidies and tax breaks.

At the same time, the DPJ's policy platform is also committed to postponing the unpopular consumption tax hike, as the initial hike almost crippled the economy here, sending it into recession, as factories were forced to slash production, corporations cut investments and consumers curb spending.

Under their new leader, the DPJ will also look to nullify Abe's reinterpretation of Japan's pacifist Constitution that saw Abe's Cabinet unilaterally lift Japan's self-imposed ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense and in doing so upset some of Japan's closest neighbors who suffered under Japan's wartime brutality.

The move also confused and irked the wider international community, as for a so-called pacifist nation who champions peace and whose own security practicalities fall under the United States ' umbrella, and with the island-nation suffering no major defense breaches since the security pact was inked following Japan's loss at the end of Word War II, the new step away from pacifism came across as bellicose, truculent and hypocritical, many observers said. Endi