Many Japanese want the Democratic Party of Japan to take power in the next general election in the hope that a DPJ victory will usher in a two-party system that puts Japanese politics on a sounder footing. The party's latest annual convention, however, must have left people wondering whether the DPJ is really determined to replace the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito.
The two-day meeting, which closed Monday in Fukuoka City, set the tone of a DPJ campaign for a Lower House by-election scheduled for April in the Fukuoka No. 2 district. A DPJ victory in this battleground constituency will improve the party's long-term electoral fortunes as it prepares for a marathon campaign leading up to the next Lower House election.
Most likely the Fukuoka election will be a two-man race between a DPJ candidate and Mr. Taku Yamasaki, the former LDP vice president, who is now serves as an assistant to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Mr. Yamasaki lost his seat in the November 2003 general election. The DPJ winner, however, resigned this year for lying about his educational background.