The Democratic Party leadership election on Thursday ended with the widely anticipated victory of deputy chief Renho over two rival candidates as the controversy over her dual citizenship — which overshadowed the campaign itself — apparently had limited impact on the final outcome. However, the flip-flop in her explanation over the issue — she acknowledged just two days before the vote at the party convention that she had not renounced her Taiwanese citizenship despite insisting earlier that she did when she acquired Japanese nationality at the age of 17 — cast doubts over her qualifications as leader of a major party. The question now is whether the largest opposition force is ready to rally behind its new leader — which it will need to do if it is serious about taking on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition.
Renho's sweep of 503 of the 849 points at stake in the votes by the party's lawmakers, candidates tapped for future Diet elections, local assembly members, rank-and-file members and registered supporters may reflect their hopes that the 48-year-old newscaster-turned-politician will have enough popular appeal to turn around the party's fortunes — after its failures at the helm of the government from 2009 to 2012, and its dismal performance as the leader of the opposition, which was dwarfed by Abe's ruling alliance in Diet affairs and in key national elections, including the Upper House race in July.
However, whether the 12-year veteran of the Upper House has the political skills to unite the party, which has been marred by factional as well as policy divisions among its lawmakers both as the governing force and after its fall from power, remain to be seen. Renho was endorsed by key members of the departing party leadership led by Katsuya Okada, and won broad support among the party's local assembly members and rank-and-file members. That may give her a strong footing within the party as she takes on her new job. But the controversy over her dual citizenship — which she retained even as she served key government posts in the past — may not only simmer within the party but will likely provide ammunition for other parties to attack her.