Columbia University¡¯s Gerald Curtis recently wrote, ¡°It is a sad commentary on Japan¡¯s politics that after nearly 70 years of democracy a competitive party system has all but disintegrated.¡±
The Democratic Party of Japan is a culprit in this disintegration and slim hopes for a turnaround were dashed by last week¡¯s party leadership contest ¡ª a PR disaster that exposed deep divisions and offered no vision for how a party that has fallen so far so quickly can manage a comeback. Things looked bleak during the campaign when Katsuya Okada, the winning candidate, sported an eye-patch, reminding me of the old saying of how a one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind.
Following disastrous setbacks in the 2010 and 2012 Diet elections, and a mediocre performance in last month¡¯s snap poll, the DPJ has been left staring into the abyss. It¡¯s a party looking for an identity, with its members at odds over policy and representing a wide swath of the ideological spectrum from left to right. Thus hammering out a unified position on any issue has been difficult, making the party look about as dynamic as a stick in the mud. Okada is an experienced leader and policy wonk, but it stretches the imagination to think he can rejuvenate the party.
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