Simply finding a new leader of the Democratic Party to replace Renho, who announced her resignation as president this week, will not pull the No. 1 opposition party out of its current crisis. The DP's ranks first need to realize the depth of the crisis and reflect on why the party is being deserted by voters — as shown in its dismal performance in elections as well as in media opinion polls — as they look for a way forward. They have to reassess and redefine the party's basic direction, and in the process should not avert thorough discussions on potentially divisive issues. Otherwise, the party's survival as a relevant political force may be in doubt, no matter who takes over from Renho.

Less than a year after she was elected party chief last September upon hopes that the widely known popular lawmaker would turn around the party's fortunes, Renho said she was resigning from the position to take the blame for the DP's dismal showing in the July 2 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. The party's performance in the race was indeed pathetic — it won only five of the assembly's 127 seats. While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party suffered a historic defeat, winning a mere 23 seats after holding 57 before the election, the race was swept by popular Gov. Yuriko Koike's new Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First), which now controls a comfortable majority in the assembly along with its allies.

The election result was the clearest indication to date that an LDP loss does not translate into a DP gain — that the top opposition force party is not seen by voters as a viable alternative to the ruling party. Even as the Abe administration's public approval ratings plunge to their lowest levels, support for the DP remains at negligible levels and far below that for the LDP.