SUPRAPARTISAN LEAGUES PROLIFERATE IN DIVIDED DIET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TOKYO 000781 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL JA SUBJECT: SUPRAPARTISAN LEAGUES PROLIFERATE IN DIVIDED DIET REF: TOKYO 0570 Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, reasons 1.4(b),(d). ¶1. (C) Summary. The proliferation of suprapartisan parliamentary leagues has been a noteworthy aspect of Japanese politics since the opposition gained control of the Upper House in the July 2007 elections. Some observers see the cross-party groupings as nothing more than a means for overcoming legislative inertia in the divided Diet, and they have proven effective in that regard. Others see a much more significant role for these groups as prototypes for a new political order, in which ideology and commonality of interest outweigh old-fashioned party allegiance. The truth is probably somewhere in between. End summary. Breaking the Stalemate by Focusing on Issues -------------- ¶2. (C) Suprapartisan groups are nothing new to Japan's political scene; however, most cross-party alliances have traditionally been of the "friendship league" variety with medium- to long-term goals. This category includes Diet leagues focusing on the death penalty, DPRK abductions, and Burma democratization. Sometimes, these groups find themselves facing rival parliamentary leagues on the other side of the issue, or devoted to improving relations with the same country. Core members of these groups often have a sincere interest in the issues, but some of the more marginal members may not, and their participation and subject-matter knowledge can be quite limited. ¶3. (C) The newest entrants, appear to have emerged in reaction to the political gridlock that has enveloped Japan since the opposition won control of the Upper House in July ¶2007. A recent Sankei Shimbun article quoted several unnamed lawmakers as saying that these ad hoc, issue-focused parliamentary leagues are the only way to push for policies in the current political environment. A good example is the league formed during the 2006 Diet session to promote compensation for victims of natural disasters. The group produced a bill that became the first legislative measure to break through the partisan logjam in both houses, ending one of the longest periods of legislative inactivity in post-war Diet history. A current example is the recently established league to promote the development of workers cooperatives, which brings together lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP),coalition partner Komeito, and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Sentaku Cleans House -------------- ¶4. (C) More recently, attention has shifted to a spate of newly created suprapartisan groups that are more ideologically oriented, and the group that has attracted the widest attention is called Sentaku. (The name is a play on words that can be translated as either "cleaning up" or "choice.") The National League to Clean up/Set Choices for Japan from the Local Community and Consumer Perspective -- established in January by a group of 15 respected academics, former and incumbent governors, mayors, and local legislators, and business and trade union leaders -- has the stated purpose of building a people's rights movement in advance of the next election. Its leaders have pledged to promote local and consumer issues, but the subtext is clearly political reform and change, according to Embassy contacts. The new group is itself an outgrowth of the 21st Century Forum, a gathering of influential business leaders and academics that was particularly prominent in the Koizumi era, and is credited with support for many of his structural reforms. ¶5. (C) A suprapartisan Diet league was formed on March 3 to support the goals of Sentaku. The group is led by six-term LDP Yamaguchi Prefecture Representative Takeo Kawamura (Ibuki faction) and four-term DPJ Chiba Prefecture Representative TOKYO 00000781 002 OF 004 Yoshihiko Noda. The LDP side features a host of names associated with former Prime Minister Abe, including Nobuteru Ishihara, Yoshihide Suga, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Hakubun Shimomura, and Hiroshige Seko. The list also includes a number of "Koizumi Kids" and Upper House Koizumi recruits, leading some media observers to cast the group as a Koizumi-Abe force aimed at balancing the more traditional LDP power base of Prime Minister Fukuda. While the LDP members in the group are not overtly anti-Fukuda, according to Embassy contacts, many are believed to back Taro Aso as the rightful heir to the Koizumi reform agenda. On the DPJ side, Sentaku includes such heavy hitters as former party presidents Seiji Maehara and Katsuya Okada, who is on everyone's short-list to succeed current party leader Ichiro Ozawa, along with policy heavyweights Yukio Edano and Keiichiro Asao. The membership on the DPJ side is clearly in the anti-Ozawa camp, DPJ insiders attest. ¶6. (C) The Sentaku parliamentary group, according to co-founder Noda, is focused specifically on developing detailed electoral manifestos for both parties in the next general election, while promoting Diet reform, regional decentralization, administrative reform, and stronger environmental policies. Members tell the Embassy that the group will endeavor to steer clear of security and foreign policy issues. Sentaku comprises 51 lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP),47 from the DPJ, 8 from the LDP's ruling coalition partner Komeito, and one from the tiny opposition New People's Party. At first glance, the members of Sentaku seem to have little in common. One well-known blogger joked at the time that while everyone at the first meeting must have known why they were there, they probably looked around the room and wondered about everyone else. LDP Lower House member Kenji Eda acknowledged in an interview that he was disappointed by the large size of the group and the wide array of policy views, and expressed his concern that the group would never function as a cohesive unit. ¶7. (C) Viewed as a whole, however, patterns quickly emerge. The members tend toward the "younger" end of the scale for Japanese legislators, with most in their 40s and 50s. Electoral district seat-holders outnumber those elected to proportional seats, and a disproportionate number have either inherited seats or are particularly strong in their districts. Some political observers have noted that Sentaku members are among the more serious, policy-oriented lawmakers in the Diet. Lower House members predominate, 81 to 26. These patterns aside, however, a fair number of the members make odd bedfellows, both in policy terms and as political actors. Ideologically, the members range widely across the political spectrum, but the majority are considered to be moderate conservatives. If there is one underlying theme, it would seem to be a commitment to reform, but with no consensus on how to define that term. Sentaku co-founder Noda described the group's objective as working to "level up" democracy in Japan. ¶8. (C) The presence of so many strong personalities and the lack of interest displayed thus far by any of them in stepping up to lead the organization, may be one indication that this is not intended to be a trailblazer for realignment, but a group to foster debate on reform. In fact, most Embassy contacts and media observers see Sentaku and some of the other suprapartisan groups as organizations that will have fulfilled their purpose by the time the next election is over, after which they will disappear. Conservative DPJ Lower House member Akihisa Nagashima espouses this view, but expects Sentaku to be extremely active in labeling single-seat candidates as either pro- or anti-reform. Other Embassy contacts note that Sentaku has yet to clearly express its position on specific issues and is already beginning to lose momentum. Conservatives and Liberals Choose Sides, Leaders -------------- --- TOKYO 00000781 003 OF 004 ¶9. (C) Other recently formed suprapartisan groups of note range from the conservative Association to Demand Removal of Unjust Photographs from China's Anti-Japan Resistance War Museum, featuring such marquee names as Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, former LDP policy chief Shoichi SIPDIS Nakagawa, and independent Takeo Hiranuma, to the more liberal Alliance for Rehabilitating Medical Services, which counts former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki and DPJ executive Yoshito Sengoku among its members. Additional prominent groups include the conservative League for the Promotion of Information Technology in Local Governments, which brings together former LDP Secretary General Taro Aso and current DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama, and a liberal group focused on Korean Peninsula affairs, founded by LDP heavyweights Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki, and incorporating DPJ leaders from the anti-Ozawa camp, such as Yoshito Sengoku and Yukio Edano. ¶10. (C) An existing but dormant group, the Forum of Young Legislators to Build a Security System for the New Century, has just announced plans to resume meetings of junior and mid-level ruling and opposition party members for the first time in three years. The Forum, under the leadership of the LDP's former Japan Defense Agency head Gen Nakatani, former DPJ leader Maehara, and Komeito security policy expert Osamu Ueda, is expected to delve into issues that are difficult to SIPDIS broach in today's overheated and divided Diet, such as collective self-defense. (Perhaps in reaction to the coalescing of anti-Ozawa DPJ members in some of these other groups, Ozawa himself has just launched his own 60-member league within the DPJ to unite former local assembly members and municipal leaders currently serving in the national legislature under the banner of decentralization.) ¶11. (C) Some of the new Diet leagues are unapologetic about taking a stance on their choice for the next prime minister. The LDP members of the IT group noted above are all members of the Aso faction, and support Taro Aso to succeed Fukuda. A financial study group started by seven-term LDP Lower House member and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Sonoda in August 2007 to criticize Abe's lack of financial reconstruction policies has grown into a de facto support group for LDP policy chief Sadakazu Tanigaki. Members of the True Conservative Study Group (reftel) have told the Embassy that they see the group as a springboard to launch the candidacy of Taro Aso for prime minister, at the appropriate time. Conservative Takeo Hiranuma, expelled from the LDP in 2005 for his opposition to former Prime Minister Koizumi's postal reform plan, and his supporters have made no secret of his plans to form his own "true" conservative party. Hiranuma sits at the top of several conservative parliamentary groups, as do es the LDP's Taro Aso and DPJ Secretary General Hatoyama. Harbingers of Realignment? -------------- ¶12. (C) Many observers attribute the shift from issue-based to ideological parliamentary groups to a growing realization among Japan's lawmakers that the system can not function effectively in its current state and that some sort of political realignment is both inevitable and necessary. In that sense, the newest of these groups can be seen as an opportunity for conservatives and liberals, hawks and doves, to form up sides and stake out positions for the new political order, whatever that might be. At a more practical level, they may also be seen as a way to help smooth management of the Diet until the realignment is complete. ¶13. (C) Rumors of a coming political realignment have spread even more rapidly since the failed talks between Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and DPJ leader Ozawa over formation of a "grand coalition" of the largest ruling and opposition parties. With that particular avenue to political realignment closed, the obvious next steps are for conservatives and liberals from both parties to ally themselves loosely in anticipation of a blending of TOKYO 00000781 004 OF 004 like-minded elements from each party. It is worth noting that Komeito members, who had the most to lose from a new LDP-DPJ coalition, are active in most of the new parliamentary groupings. ¶14. (C) Many of these more recent suprapartisan Diet leagues "clearly have their eyes on the realignment of political forces," according to an article in the Sankei Newspaper, which predicted that one of them could make a "surprise move" if the Diet continues to flounder. Diet members on both sides of the aisle have expressed to the Embassy their desire for a clear realignment along ideological grounds. The Korea group was originally assembled for purposes of a visit to Seoul after the election of President Lee Myung-bak, but has since grown into a de facto liberal Asia policy study group aimed at improving relations with China, Korea, and the DPRK. The new group stands in sharp distinction to the hard-line League to Rescue Abductees. DPJ International Department chief Tetsundo Iwakuni recently formed his own small group of DPJ and People's New Party ("Kokumin Shinto") members to seek reconciliation with the DPRK through dialogue, and has announced plans to work with the Kato group. ¶15. (C) While parliamentary unions don't lead to political realignment in a single-seat electoral district system, LDP heavyweight Kaoru Yosano observed recently, they can "naturally influence" the process. Yosano opined in a recent Mainichi interview that there is no reason to wait for an election to realign the parties. The consensus among most informed observers is that political realignment won't come before the next election, although suprapartisan groups will continue to proliferate as lawmakers position themselves in advance. Another possibility is that the members will try to assert themselves as a new group within their own parties first, where they will seek to drive both leadership decisions and policy discussions. The bonds they have forged across the aisle can then be put to use in promoting the kind of reformist policies that are important to moderate conservatives in both major parties. SCHIEFFER