As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears well on his way to securing a third term as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party next month, the opposition camp continues to be weak and in disarray. The Democratic Party for the People (DPP), the second-largest opposition force, has kicked off its first leadership race since it was established in May in a merger of two of the several groups that emerged out of the breakup of the Democratic Party last fall. But the DPP campaign leading up to a vote in early September is languishing below the radar as popular support for the party remains mired in miniscule levels.
With less than a year to go before the triennial Upper House election in summer 2019, the opposition camp, as long as it remains as fragmented as it is now, stands little chance of being taken seriously by voters as a possible alternative to the governing parties. It's time that the opposition parties decide whether or how they intend to bring their forces together to mount a meaningful challenge to Abe's ruling coalition.
At issue in the DPP race is how the party will go about cooperating with other opposition forces as they try to stand up to the LDP-Komeito ruling alliance. Keisuke Tsumura, the lone opponent of the party's current co-leader, Yuichiro Tamaki, charges that Tamaki's priority on making proposals to the Abe administration rather than confrontation during the last regular Diet session has damaged the party's trust with the other opposition parties as they stepped up their criticism of the administration. It appears that the DPP has yet to set a clear direction four months after it was launched as yet another "new" opposition force.