The Democratic Party of Japan, the nation's top opposition party, has held its first convention since electing Mr. Seiji Maehara as president in September. The party's new action policy for 2006 aims to reverse the power balance between the ruling and opposition camps in the next Upper House election scheduled for 2007.
For now, however, the biggest challenge for the DPJ is to heal its seemingly widening internal divisions. At the convention, held last weekend in Tokyo, Mr. Maehara came under fire for aggressive policy statements that he had made recently here and abroad -- statements that his critics and opponents say deviated significantly from the party's platform.
Mr. Maehara wants to build the party into a "fighting organization" capable of taking power. That goal, however, seems to have been relegated to the background as wide schisms in the party and deep mistrust of the new leader came to a head.