Osaka voters revolt against the status quo
By Purnendra Jain
TOKYO - Casual observers can be excused for a rushed conclusion that Japanese
politics remains immobile even a couple of years after the transfer of
government from the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party to the Democratic
Party of Japan. Very often they don't look beyond the national level. Results
of two local elections at the weekend show that winds of change are blowing
strongly.
After what was dubbed a ''double election'' - ballots for the positions of
Osaka prefectural governor and Osaka city mayor held on Sunday - the two
winning candidates convincingly have vowed to introduce some fundamental
changes in the administrative structure of Osaka that will have implications
for other local governments around the country and ultimately may
affect Japan's national politics.
Although Osaka's economy, like the national economy of Japan, has been
stagnating, the prefecture still boasts a total gross domestic product several
times larger than many of the world's nation-states, and it has many large
industrial and business houses that depend on global markets. Osaka city is the
third largest in population after Tokyo and Yokohama cities, both in the
greater Tokyo Metropolitan area. Osaka city is the jewel crown of the Kansai
area, an area which has historically been a center of trade and commerce but
lost much of its commercial gloss as most large corporations are now
headquartered in Tokyo.
Toru Hashimoto, who earlier resigned his position as governor of Osaka
prefecture a few months before completing his first term of four years in
office, ran for the less prestigious and less influential Osaka mayoral
position while supporting his close ally Ichiro Matsui to run for the vacated
gubernatorial position. Both won the elections defeating their nearest rivals
by huge margins.
Hashimoto defeated incumbent Kunio Hiramatsu and Matsui his nearest rival Kaoru
Kurata. Both defeated candidates were supported jointly by the Liberal
Democratic Party and Democratic Party of Japan. Hashimoto's decision to run
against the incumbent was a strategic move as no one else other that him was
capable of defeating Hiramatsu. The victory of Hashimoto and Matsui is being
held as a revolt against the status quo and the established political parties
that are increasingly seen as paralyzed.
Hashimoto's political background is different from the mainstream politicians
in Japan. His political career did not originate in a political family neither
did he serve as a political staffer to any high-profile politician nor was he a
national bureaucrat - backgrounds from where bulk of the national politicians
in Japan are drawn. Instead, he regularly appeared on the Osaka political scene
as a well-known tarento (celebrity). He is a former lawyer and TV advice
show host, where he offered legal options for people with marital and financial
difficulties. He was especially popular among female and young unaffiliated
voters, and at age 38 in 2007 he won the gubernatorial election with a huge
numbers of votes.
Both Hashimoto and the freshly-elected governor of Osaka belong to a newly
established local party called Osaka Ishin no kai (Osaka Restoration
Association), a brainchild of Hashimoto who launched it last year. Local
politics in Japan has hitherto been dominated by national-level political
parties and most local politicians are either affiliated or supported by the
national-level political parties. Many of the governors and mayors at the local
level who call themselves 'independent' receive support from major political
parties - sometimes by both ruling and opposition parties.
This is for the first time that a local political party has been successful in
electing candidates to such influential positions as governor of Osaka
prefecture and mayor of Osaka city, reversing the practice of soliciting
support from the established political parties. Indeed this local party may
challenge the two major parties at the next general election due by 2013.
At the April 2011 unified local elections, this political party ran numerous
candidates in both for Osaka prefectural assembly and many of city assemblies
with great success. The party gained majority in the prefectural assembly and
33 out of 86 seats in the Osaka city assembly - an awesome result for a nascent
political party.
Hashimoto's Ishin no kai's main goal is an administrative restructuring plan
that would make Osaka's administrative structure similar to the Tokyo
Metropolitan government, and it Osaka Metropolis. Under this plan, the Osaka
prefectural government and the two largest cities within this prefecture -
Osaka city and Sakai city - would be reorganized into a metropolis similar to
Tokyo. Instead of Osaka Prefecture and the two cities current overlapping
functions, administrative inefficiency and duplication, Osaka would be
reorganized into a limited number of special administrative wards, each with
elected head.
The plan envisages that the restructuring of the functions would allow Osaka to
act as one single entity leading to the consolidation of revenues and better
and efficient economic decision making which would stimulate Osaka's economy
overall.
Hashimoto has been a controversial figure in Japanese politics ever since he
was elected Osaka's governor in 2007. However, he has never been shy of
speaking his mind and appealing directly to the people in much the same style
as the former popular Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. His media savvy
approach and direct communication with the people have made him perhaps the
most popular political figure in Japan today.
The process of introducing the proposed changes is not easy and there are at
least three major hurdles which Hashimoto and his group will need to overcome.
First, the Osaka prefecture, Osaka city and Sakai city assemblies will have to
agree and pass an ordinance to make administrative changes. While the Ishin no
kai holds a majority in Osaka prefecture, it will need to rely on Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) assembly members in
Osaka city and Sakai city, where it does not hold majority of seats. Second, a
referendum will need to be carried out and finally an amendment in the Local
Autonomy Law will be required as stipulated in the constitution.
There are status quoist forces at all levels that are against the proposed
change and it will not be an easy task for Hashimoto to convince the forces of
resistance against change. Any change in Japan is difficult let alone a
historic change of this nature. But Hashimoto is not among one of those
ordinary tarento local politicians who ride the popular wave momentarily
and then disappear quickly from the political scene.
Given Hashimoto's youthfulness at age 42 and his strong belief in his political
ideas and commitment for change, it seems he is in for a long haul in Japanese
politics. Many do not agree with his ideas of restructuring and financial
austerity, but since he enjoys high popularity and has established a new
political party with already some considerable success, he will not be taken
lightly even by leading national politicians - including those in government
today.
Hashimoto's ideas have been endorsed by the fourth-term controversial governor
of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara and by many other governors and mayors around the
country.The ruling DPJ has expressed interest in examining Hashimoto's proposal
and would consider it seriously. Hashimoto has already indicated that ''if
political parties hesitate to work on this issue, we'll start preparations to
field our own candidates for a national election''. If Hashimoto and his
party's popularity in the Osaka region is any indication, it is not unlikely
that his party would win a plurality of seats in the lower house of parliament
at the next election, not only from the Osaka region but also from other parts
of Japan.
Hashimoto's official status as a mayor of the third-largest city of Japan may
not mean much as many of Japan's mayors and governors are hardly known beyond
their local boundaries. But Hashimoto is not an ordinary mayor. His political
rise has attracted considerable attention nationally and it may not be
surprising if he is soon noticed internationally.
National-level politicians and both major political parties - the LDP and DPJ -
will need to keep their fingers on the political pulse of Osaka. It is not
unlikely that the Ishin no kai would run its own candidates at the next general
election, which must be held in 2013, with huge implications for the
national-level politics. Since voters are increasingly becoming impatient with
the current political situation, they may give themselves a real chance of
change through their actions at the local level as the Osaka case suggests. The
battle has just begun between Osaka - a local area and Tokyo - the seat of
national power. A real change in Japanese politics may come from below.
Purnendra Jain is professor in Asian Studies at Australia's Adelaide
University. He is currently visiting the University of Tokyo.
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