The race is on to elect the new chief of the opposition Democratic Party, with Seiji Maehara and Yukio Edano, who both served in key positions in the Democratic Party of Japan-led government, vying for leadership of the No. 1 opposition force. Whoever of the two should win the race in the vote on Friday, however, there's little hope that popular expectations of the DP will significantly rise. A lot of people do hope that there will be a political force that can serve as an alternative to the Liberal Democratic Party. But it seem quite hard to dispel people's disillusionment with the existing opposition parties.
Some within the opposition camp, including Goshi Hosono, who recently quit the DP, appear to lay hopes on the Nippon First no Kai (Japan First), a national-level political movement by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who led her Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First) party to victory in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly race in early August. But citizens who have sought political reforms in this country have also experienced the hollowness of political realignment that was pursued as if in search of the blue bird of happiness over the past quarter century.
It remains to be seen how different Nippon First will be from all the "new parties" that have come and gone like bubbles. But it does seem that the movement has the potential to create a major boom because it is driven by the extremely popular Koike. Therefore, it is necessary at this stage to scrutinize whether the movement is desirable for Japan's political democracy.
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