Democratic Party of Japan
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| Missing image Minnih.gif Democratic Party Logo | |
| Party President: | Katsuya Okada |
| Secretary General: | Hirohisa Fujii |
| Founded: | 1998 |
| Headquarters: |
1-11-1 Nagata-cho |
| Representatives | 178 |
| Councillors | 83 |
| Political ideology: | liberal |
| Website: | Democratic Party of Japan (http://www.dpj.or.jp/) |
The Democratic Party of Japan (民主党, Minshutō) is a liberal party in Japan. It is Japan's second largest party and main opposition party. It grew from a small party to a major force in post-war Japan.
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History
The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was formed on April 27, 1998. It was an merger of four previously independent parties that were opposed to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)- a previous Democratic Party of Japan (1996), the Good Governance Party(民政党, Minseito), the New Fraternity Party(新党友愛, Shinto-Yuai), and the Democratic Reform Party(民主改革連合, Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengo). These were all new parties that were either liberal or social-democratic. The new party began with ninety-three members of the House of Representatives and thirty-eight members of the House of Councillors.
In 2001, the DPJ elected Japan's first white diet member, Tsurunen Marutei (ツルネン・マルテイ), showing its anti-traditionalism and liberalism. The party grew and won a significant amount of seats in the 2000 and 2001 Dietary elections.
On September 24, 2003, the party formally merged with the small, centre-right Liberal Party led by Ichiro Ozawa - the move was largely considered to be done in preparation for the election on November 9, 2003. This move immediately gave the DPJ eight more seats in the House of Councillors.
On October 22, 2003, in a speech delivered jointly by former Party President Naoto Kan and former Liberal Party President Ichiro Ozawa in Okayama, Kan stated: "The LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) should give up the reins of power to the DPJ for once, creating a two-party system that will enable changes of government to take place."
In the elections themselves, the Democrats gained a total of 178 seats. This was short of their objectives, but nevertheless a significant demonstration of the new group's strength. The Democratic Party remains the primary rival of the ruling Liberal Democrats.
Following a pension scandal, President of the party Naoto Kan resigned, and was replaced with a moderate liberal - Katsuya Okada.
In the 2004 Upper House elections, in the amount of contested seats, the DPJ won a seat more than the ruling Liberal Democrats, but in the total votes, the LDP still maintained its firm majority. It sits with members of the Independent's Club, a coalition of Democrats who are liberal centrists, in both houses of the National Diet.
Other Information
The party's logo is two red circles overlapping.
The DPJ gains much of its support from blue collar workers and also from the liberal middle class. It is also gaining support from women and from the urban classes.
On domestic policy, the party is liberal, and is the largest opposition party and also Japan's largest Centrist party.
The DPJ also counts several members of non-Japanese ancestry, including Marutei Tsurunen (the first European member of the Diet) and Ren Hou (half-Taiwanese).
Groups
The Democrats do have some factions, or groups, as they are more commonly called, but are not as factionalized as the LDP, which spends more of its time fighting internally rather than against opposition parties. The groups are, from the most influential to the least influential:
- Hatoyama Group: led by former Liberal Democrat Yukio Hatoyama, has about 60 lawmakers in the Diet. They lean closere to the center than the Kan Group.
- Isshin-kai: supporters of the former Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa, though he is not a member of the faction. About 50 members.
- Kan Group: led by former Party President Naoto Kan. Is one of the more left leaning factions. About 30 members.
- Liberal Party Group: made up of former Liberal Party (1998) members. About 30 members, and is led by Ichiro Ozawa and Hirohisa Fujii.
- Japan Socialist Party Group: the most left-leaning faction, created by more moderate members of the former Japan Socialist Party who felt the Social Democratic Party (Japan) was too radical. About 30 seats, led by Takahiro Yokomichi.
- Democratic Socialist Party: members of the former Democratic Socialist Party (Japan) which merged with the DPJ early on. About 50 members, led by Takashi Yonezawa.
- Ryoun-kai: the second most conservative and right-leaning faction. Most of its members are from The Sakigake Party, who did not want to join the more ecologist Midori no Kaigi, the party Sakigake morphed into when it dissolved, which is now dissolved. About 20 seats. Led by Seiji Maehara and Yukio Endano.
- Conservative Group: the smallest and most conservative faction. Liberal Democrats who joined the DPJ sit with the Conservatives. Has only a few members.
The Independent's Club - a liberal centrist faction which sits with the Democratic Party in both chambers of the house, is not a separate political entity, yet part of the Democratic Party (not a faction or group) which calls itself the Independent's Club.
The largest and most influential faction is the Hatoyama Faction. Party President Katsuya Okada sits with no faction, yet he supports the Kan Group.
See also
- List of political parties in Japan
- Timeline of liberal parties in Japan
- Politics of Japan
- Liberal parties
- Japanese Communist Party
- Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)
- Social Democratic Party (Japan)
- Good Governance Party
- Democratic Party of Japan (1996)
- Democratic Reform Party
- New Fraternity Party
- Liberalism
- Socialism
- Katsuya Okada
- Ichiro Ozawa
External links
- Democratic Party of Japan (http://www.dpj.or.jp)
The official website of the Democratic Party. Has a very organized English section, and also a fast and reliable e-mail address on both the Japanese and English pages.es:Partido Democrático de Japón fr:Parti démocrate du Japon ja:民主党 (日本) sv:Japans Demokratiska Parti zh:日本民主党