CALD Tackles Japan Lower House Elections in a Webinar

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

This was how political analyst Richard Heydarian described Japan politics, using a popular phrase by French writer Jean-Baptiste Aphonse Karr. The observation could not be more correct. Japan, after all, has been dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for most of its post-World War II history.  The Pew Research Centre, in a poll in 2018, reported that 62% of Japanese believe elections do not change things. Heydarian, however, also noted that even “the part that stays the same has its own internal dynamics.”

That internal dynamics was the subject of a recently concluded webinar that the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) organized on October 26. With the theme “Japan’s 2021 Elections: Issues, Challenges and Prospects”, the online event discussed the key issues and concerns regarding the upcoming Lower House elections on October 31, as well as their international and regional implications. Apart from Heydarian, Japanese professors Harukata Takenaka and Saul Takahashi, and Asia Centre’s Robin Ramcharan joined the panel discussion moderated by Filipino journalist Marites Vitug.

In his presentation, Professor Takenaka identified the key issues animating the upcoming elections, as well as the similarities and differences of major political parties’ positions on those issues.  The key election issues he tackled include: (1) measures to deal with the COVID-19 crisis; (2) growth policy; (3) distribution policy; and (4) foreign and security policy. Responding to questions on what to expect from the Kishida administration, he argued that the new prime minister would most likely adopt a pacifist stance, having been one of the more liberal-oriented members of the Abe cabinet.

Takahashi, in his intervention, drew attention to the human rights implications of successive conservative nationalist governments under the LDP, as well as these governments’ reliance on the military as a tool of foreign policy. Commenting on one-party dominance in Japan, he said, “LDP is so strong precisely because they have been in power for so long… I don’t think it’s healthy for Japanese politics. I don’t think it’s healthy for the country in general.” Ramcharan agreed with Takahashi on the role of conservative nationalist elites in Japanese politics, which, he observed, has been evident as early as the 19th century. This also explains the highly personalistic (and patriarchal) nature of politics in the country, “to the extent that should there have been changes, it really depended on the person, usually the men.”

On foreign policy, Heydarian highlighted the position of Japan as a “super middle power” in the Asian region, being the third largest economy in the world, having one of the most advanced naval forces, and being the most preferred external power and partner in infrastructure development in the region.  CALD Chairperson Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, in his welcome remarks read by CALD Secretary General Francis “Blue” Abaya, also pointed out, “Japan’s participation in the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue”)… is crucial to bolster confidence of Asian Liberals and Democrats that democracies can withstand and counter the rise and influence of non-democratic countries.”

“Japan, obviously, is a very, very important country globally, politically, economically. And as this discussion also showed, geopolitically”, says Moritz Kleine-Brockhoff, regional director of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, in his closing remarks. Asian Liberals and Democrats could not agree more… and it was for this reason that they eagerly await what continuities and changes could result from the upcoming Japanese Lower House elections.